By Alvin Salge
Commander, VFW Post 7139
On the Veterans Day Holiday — Monday, Nov 12 — Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7139 will honor and salute all American veterans who, throughout our history, have unselfishly placed their lives on the line for freedom.
This year is the 100th anniversary of Veterans Day, which started as Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1918, to mark the end of fighting in World War I.
This year we especially honor veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These wars have been drawn out for 18 years, longer than any other wars in which the U.S. has been involved. Even now our active-duty veterans are still finishing up operations against ISIS and continue fighting the Afghan insurgents. China is challenging the U.S. in the Pacific and Russia is challenging in Europe. Our current and past veterans never hesitate to complete their duties and assignments with utmost courage.
We will hold our Veterans Day program at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 12, at the Veterans Memorial Building on Mission Drive in Solvang with a number of speakers, patriotic music and a luncheon. We honor our troops around the world and those who are still countering our current threats.
We invite all veterans, their families and caring citizens to attend. We also welcome veterans from allied countries who fought beside our service men and women.
