Americans must find common goals

To the editor:

In November 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 Armistice Day to honor the memory of those Americans who were killed in World War 1, known as ?The war to end all wars.? Thirty-seven years later President Dwight Eisenhower changed the name to Veterans Day to honor the memory of the 500,000 Americans who lost their lives in World War ll; nearly 10 percent of our country, 16 million men and women had served in that global conflict and I was one of them.  

We are still engaged in war today and, although the memories of those who died remain the same, the numbers are astoundingly different. Only 1 percent of our great nation serves in the military. In the past 10 years, 6,100 plus of our men and women, including 74 from Iowa, who serve the other 99 percent of us, have perished. We honor their memory, their devotion, and their sacrifice today. Taps will be played in every town, every city, and every cemetery where our heroes lie. And I will cry as I always do as I hear that mournful tune. 

When I was a young man I recited the Pledge of Allegiance in school every day. The last line was, ?One nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.? Today on Nov. 11, 2011, we are a divided nation as at no other time in our history. If the memories we share of our fallen heroes, if their lives were not given in vain, if we as Americans want to honor our country, we must find our common heritage, our common goals. 

Friday I will see the faces of those 16 young men I flew in combat with who did not return. I will think of the 66 years of life that I had and they did not. I will stand at attention as a bugler plays Taps and think back to my time as a soldier, a P-51 pilot. I was a proud American. I would like to be again. 

? Jerry Yellin, Fairfield