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Memorial Day weekend has become the one time of the year where it can said that the whole nation is united in the gratitude that’s shown to those that have fallen and those who still bear the pain of wars that are being fought now and in the past.

The toll that’s taken of the soldier can be overwhelming and the loss of a comrade only further shows the alarming severity of the task they must endure.

All the emotion shown during this time gives evidence to the pain suffered by veterans & family members alike.

I know I’ve talked about the difference between Veteran’s Day & Memorial Day, but I’d like to take the time to remind everyone that the men and women of our armed services deserve our gratitude and a great deal more. The depth of that gratitude though celebrated once a year can be repaid in so many different & simple ways year round. From a random act of kindness to just saying “thank you for your service” to a soldier or veteran. The appreciation that it brings is immeasurable for the person concerned.

If nothing else, it shows the respect and esteem we have for these fine individuals who gave so much and those we remember this weekend that gave all to ensure we have the freedoms this great land offers us.

To my fellow veterans, I want to thank you for your service to our great nation. In these times of change it may be hard to remember that our sacrifices are why our country is in this historic period.

Good or bad, just remember that your sacrifice allowed the American people to make a comfortable decision under the banner of liberty…regardless of whether you agree with the decision of the people or not.

Our job was/is to ensure that our people are free to make the choice.

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The Difference Between Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day

I have come to realize that many people do not know the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

There is a big difference and that difference is significant.

Veterans Day is the day to thank and honor those who served honorably in service to our country…regardless of wartime or peacetime. Deceased veterans are also remembered, but in the context of their service to the nation. In simple terms it is to honor and celebrate the veteran’s service.

Memorial Day honors service members who died in service to their country or as a result of injuries incurred during battle. Memorial Day is where we honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

So…hopefuly that helps everyone understand the difference – because there is a difference.

History

Veterans Day originally is held every November 11th, and though it typically falls on this day, officially the holiday is normally observed on the weekday that falls closest to November 11th every year. It was first incorporated as by President Wilson as Armistice Day in 1919. Other countries today also still recognize November 11th as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in honor of the Armistice treaty which ended WWI.

It was in 1938 that Armistice Day was enacted as an official American holiday. But eventually after WWII, citizens felt that the veterans of all wars should be recognized, not just those of WWI. So in 1954 Congress changed the name from Armistice Day to Veterans Day. In America, the holiday now celebrates the approximate 2.9 million U.S. veterans with parades and ceremonies among other events.

Memorial Day weekend has become the one time of the year where it can said that the whole nation is united in the gratitude that’s shown to those that have fallen and those who still bear the pain of wars that are being fought now and in the past. 

The toll that’s taken of the soldier can be overwhelming and the loss of a comrade only further shows the alarming severity of the task they must endure.

All the emotion shown during this time gives evidence to the pain suffered by veterans & family members alike.

I know I’ve talked about the difference between Veteran’s Day & Memorial Day, but I’d like to take the time to remind everyone that the men and women of our armed services deserve our gratitude and a great deal more. The depth of that gratitude though celebrated once a year can be repaid in so many different & simple ways year round. From a random act of kindness to just saying “thank you for your service” to a soldier or veteran. The appreciation that it brings is immeasurable for the person concerned.

If nothing else, it shows the respect and esteem we have for these fine individuals who gave so much and those we remember this weekend that gave all to ensure we have the freedoms this great land offers us.

Today I was able to testify on Alaska House Bill 24. I think I did OK on this one. Used a question posed to me as the theme of the speech which was “Why is a veteran different than a fireman or policeman?”

Here is the type written speech. I did not say it verbatim as I didn’t want to sound “canned” in my testimony, but here it is for all the world to see in it’s entirety. I hope you like it.

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Members, Ladies & Gentlemen

My name is Karl LeRay, and I am the Chairman of the Alaska Veteran’s Business Alliance and I am here to support House Bill 24.

Recently, as I spoke in support of this bill I was asked “What is the difference between a veteran and a Fireman/Policeman?” and my answer is simple:
A Fireman or Policeman is connected to the community they serve. They are connected to their family and the neighborhoods they live and work in.

While a Fireman can be placed in harm’s way, they know the type of harm they encounter.

While a Policeman may come to harm under unusual circumstances, they are not under constant threat of violence in a location hundreds or thousands of miles from home.

The serviceman is taught to overcome obstacles regardless of circumstances. They are taught (most at a very early time in their lives) to relinquish all ties to family, community, and depending upon where deployed – religion. Many of you have heard the saying “If the service wanted you to have a family, they’d have issued you a set.”

Servicemen typically does not connect well with the local community, this is due to the fact that communities typically sees the serviceman as a transient…they will be gone in a couple of years. For the soldier and their families ties to friends get cut as the soldier is reassigned continuing the disenfranchisement.

This tends to create a group of people & families that don’t connect with the civilian populace off base, thus easing their transition from one base to the next.

The disabled veteran typically considers him or her self a failure because the injury received caused them to no longer be part of the mission or the unit they serve with. Also that pain is not easily shared with others (the adage of “suck it up and drive on” is a mantra to the serviceman and woman).

Veterans typically have trouble adjusting to civilian life, I know this myself as I had to cope with working with people who either misunderstood my speaking or needs. It took over a decade for me to be able to work in a corporate environment and not consider myself an outcast. I look back and laugh that I spent two hours in front of the closet going to my first interview because for the first time in my adult life, I had to decide what to wear to work. I was 39 at the time.

If I shared with you that sleeping with a gun at my side is sometimes more comfortable than sleeping with a pillow, and you did not know I was a veteran and PTSD sufferer, what would you think of me?

Now that I’ve said all of this I’d like to point out that I do not feel I’m better than a Teacher, Fireman, Policeman, Nurse and so forth. I feel that it was my duty to ensure that anyone could have a career in any one of those fine fields.

I’d just like to finish again highlighting the community aspect.

On career day, you’ll see schools inviting a Doctors, Nurses, Firemen, Policemen and so on. How many school career days do you see a soldier?

Thank you all for your time today to listen.

Hopefully I was able to shed some light on the differences and help make HB 24 a success for Alaskan veteran businesses.

While yesterday was Veterans Day, I came to realize that many people do not know the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

There is a big difference and that difference is significant enough that I thought I should post it.

Veterans Day is the day to thank and honor those who served honorably in service to our country…regardless of wartime or peacetime. Deceased veterans are also remembered, but in the context of their service to the nation. In simple terms it is to honor and celebrate the veteran’s service.

Memorial Day honors service members who died in service to their country or as a result of injuries incurred during battle. Memorial Day is where we honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

So…hopefuly that helps everyone understand the difference – because there is a difference.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9001518&source=NLT_BNA&nlid=1

Thanks to the our government, we veterans must still stand vigil…this time for ourselves rather than America.

This is of course thanks to the inexcusable loss of our personal records by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Of course this isn’t the first time critical data has been lost by a government agency. In addition to the VA, the Pentagon, Departments of Homeland Security, State, Energy, and Health and Human Services thanks to lax data security practices, have lost data most notably with the still lost top secret data that was taken from the Department of Energy at Los Alamos (believed to be in China at this time).

Now millions of veterans must continue worry about their personal information being used to empty their bank accounts, ruin their savings, destroy their credit and make their lives miserable.

No policy, oversight or procedure prevented the analyst from routinely carrying this personal information out the door in his (personal) laptop computer, which was eventually stolen in a burglary of the analyst�s home.

Now the only help the government can offer us veterans and soldiers is instructions on how to closely monitor our finances for fraud or identity theft.

Unless there is conclusive proof (as a computer analyst myself, I know how EASY it is to image a drive without accessing it using many backup tools readily available) that the information was not accessed now that the laptop was returned, veterans will have a lifetime duty to be prepared against their lives being stolen from them.

This is a duty we did not sign up for.

The data stolen included the names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth of veterans discharged since 1975 or who were discharged in any year if they collected disability compensation. Even some spouses of veterans are included on the stolen data files, placing whole families at considerable risk!

This is all the information needed for identity thieves to apply for credit cards, open charge accounts or take out bank loans.

This stolen personal data also contains enough information to gain access to other personal data and information in medical records and accounts.

Our government needs to look at methods to safeguard personal information throughout government. Perhaps regulations also can include proper encryption of personal data. We have laws to govern how private businesses protect this data (HiPPA, Sarbanes/Oxley), so where is the government regulations for itself?

Millions of personal data files have been lost or stolen over the past few years and computerized personal records are here to stay. The government needs to set standards to protect that data in the government as well as the private sector.

Of course, had the data been about Congress members…there would be immediate legislation to ensure it never happened again!

One of my son’s serves in the military. He is still stateside, here in California. He called me yesterday to let me know how warm and welcoming people were to him, and his troops, everywhere he goes. Telling me how people shake their hands, and thank them for being willing to serve, and fight, for not only our own freedoms but so that others may have them also.

But he also told me about an incident in the grocery store he stopped at yesterday, on his way home from the base. He said that ahead of several people in front of him stood a woman dressed in a burkha. He said when she got to the cashier she loudly remarked about the US flag lapel pin the cashier wore on her smock.

The cashier reached up and touched the pin, and said yes, I always wear it.

The woman in the burkha then asked the cashier when she was going to stop bombing her countrymen, explaining that she was Iraqi.

A gentleman standing behind my son stepped forward, putting his arm around my son’s shoulders, and nodding towards my son, said in a calm and gentle voice to the Iraqi woman: "Lady, hundreds of thousands of men and women like this young man have fought and died so that you could stand here in my country and accuse a check-out cashier of bombing your Countrymen.

It is my belief that had you been this outspoken in your own country we wouldn’t need to be there today. But hey, if you have now learned how to speak out so loudly and clearly I’ll gladly pay your way back to Iraq so you can straighten out the mess you are obviously here to avoid.

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But I guess it doesn’t matter.  You’ll never see these stories on the
news.

You’ll never hear stories about men like Brian Chontosh who proudly
wear our uniform.

You can click on the link below for more info, or to see a picture of a real
hero.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/chontosh.asp

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Just a reminder to all those who have been paying attention to the War in Iraq.

The war is NOT over.

The fighting may have stoped, but we still have many thousands of troops in the Gulf region. These soldiers are giving just as much for their country as any of the units that were splashed over the news in recent months. I have noticed a depressing decline in the number of American flags on display and a lot of people seem to think that everything is over. The news services are largely to blame since there aren’t flashy headlines being produced now. However I feel that too many people suffer from fair weather patriotism. They support the nation and are troops when it is popular to do so. This is an insult to those of us who have served our nation or are serving it now. Keep the flags flying and keep supporting our troops!
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