2006 VFW Magazine - Veterans of Foreign Wars

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Recognizing and Remembering Today’s Warriors While the two-war service of veterans has been acknowledged by distinct campaign medals, the idea of a nationally prominent memorial has yet to be broached. by Kara Petrovic How a society rewards and remembers its defenders is a reflection of its values. It took a concerted effort to get the appropriate medals; it should not take decades to dedicate a national memorial. GIs Awarded Separate Medals “There are two different wars,” said a sniper who fought in Iraq’s Battle of Fallujah with the 25th Infantry Division’s Stryker Brigade. “There should be two different campaign medals.” Troops today wear awards specific to their war zones because lawmakers took GIs’ complaints into account and pushed legislation for separate medals. On Nov. 29, 2004, P.L. 108-234 established separate campaign medals to be awarded to veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Regulations regarding the Afghanistan and Iraq campaign medals’ implementation were released on April 7, 2005, and medals became available that May. This came about after the Bush Administration originally issued Presidential Executive Order 13289 on March 12, 2003, establishing the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (GWOTEM), to recognize service in all theaters in the war on terrorism. The campaign medals later replaced the GWOTEM in the two war zones. But there was still a hitch concerning the Afghanistan Campaign Medal. The Pentagon originally designated Oct. 24, 2001, as the war’s starting date, when in fact it was launched 17 days earlier on Oct. 7. Finally, on Jan. 6, 2006, President Bush signed P.L. 109-163, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2006. Sec. 567 changed the medal’s eligibility date to Sept. 11, 2001. Meanwhile, the Army’s Combat Action Afghanistan Campaign Medal Iraq Campaign Medal Badge (CAB) was created May 2, 2005, to recognize soldiers who come under fire in a war zone but are not eligible for the Combat Infantryman Badge or Combat Medical Badge. (Membership eligibility based on receipt of these badges and medals has been explained in previous VFW Membership articles.) Given especially the situation in Iraq, this move was a logical means of recognizing reality in that war zone. Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Combat Action Badge 24 • WWW.VFW.ORG • © 2006 VFW Magazine
Burt Kephart views his son Jonathan’s name on the National War on Terror Memorial located in Hermitage, Pa. The memorial consists of eight stainless-steel panels—two were added in February—which list about 3,000 names. A National Memorial Although more than 2,500 GIs have died since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, there has been virtually no discussion about a national memorial to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. In 2004, VFW magazine asked President Bush about this matter. Bush responded: “At the appropriate time, I would support efforts to erect a memorial to our troops who have served and died in Iraq and Afghanistan and would consider the use of federal funds for its construction.” John Hughes, editor of the Deseret Morning News in Utah, also believes it’s time to build a national memorial. “They deserve to be honored by all Americans,” he wrote in the Christian Science Monitor. “That honor should one day be translated into permanent recognition in the shape of a memorial on the Washington [D.C.] Mall.” But in 2003, a section of P.L. 108-126 declared the National Mall’s cross-axis— from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and from Lafayette Square to the Jefferson Memorial—“a substantially completed work of civic art.” Nevertheless, there are appropriate places in the Capital Region—such as Arlington National Cemetery—where a memorial would be appropriate. VFW Resolution 305 supports the concept of a national memorial. The fact that the wars are ongoing is not an obstacle. Names can be listed in chronological order. The panels for Afghanistan would already be complete for 2001–2005, as well as 2003–2005 for Iraq. Names are added to national law PHOTO COURTESY TOM FLYNN enforcement and firefighter memorials, as well as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, annually, and have been for years. Moreover, military units on bases across the country are honoring the dead of the nation’s recent wars in regular ceremonies. (VFW magazine listed memorials on bases in the August 2005 issue.) Two private efforts have already erected comprehensive memorials. The Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial in Marseilles, Ill., is dedicated to all those who have lost their lives in that region throughout the past 25 years. In Hermitage, Pa., the National War on Terror Memorial already lists 3,000 names engraved in chronological order of death on 12-foot rectangular glass and stainless-steel panels. The memorial consists of eight panels—two panels were added in early February—surrounding a fountain on a circular concrete pathway. This “living” memorial is updated weekly. The first name dates back to 1975, when Air Force colonel Paul Shaffer was killed in Tehran, Iran. “I felt that by doing this, it might encourage the government to do something down the road,” said Tom Flynn, the memorial’s mastermind. “We can’t forget these people. Their sacrifices can’t be understood until you’ve learned who they were and where they came from.” Flynn developed the idea in December 2004, and the $5 million memorial was constructed and dedicated by Memorial Day 2005. It is funded by the War on Terror Foundation and has already raised more than $1 million. Within one year of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, VA erected a “memorial marker” in Arlington National Cemetery to pay tribute to the 184 service personnel and civilians killed at the Pentagon. Fundraising has begun for a $30 million memorial, complete with 184 cantilevered benches, that will eventually sit on the Pentagon’s west lawn. Moreover, Congress appropriated $300,000 for a United Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pa. It is high time the nation tangibly remembers its volunteer warriors with the same enthusiasm it has the victims of Sept. 11. ✪ © 2006 VFW Magazine • WWW.VFW.ORG • 25
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2006 VFW Magazine - Veterans of Foreign Wars

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