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Veterans Day Thoughts
Tommy Towery
LHS '64
Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislation that was passed in 1938, November 11 was "dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day.'" As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.
In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress -- at the urging of the veterans service organizations -- amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, Nov. 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
In 1968, the Uniforms Holiday Bill ensured three-day weekends for federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. Under this bill, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holiday on its original date. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on Oct. 25, 1971.
Finally on September 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of Nov. 11, beginning in 1978. Since then, the Veterans Day holiday has been observed on Nov. 11. (Borrowed from Military.com)
I made this Video several years ago and keep saying I am going to update it someday, but the software I used to create it will not work on my new version of Windows and I have not updated the software yet. In the meantime I hope you appreciate the service of our listed classmates and if you did serve and are not in the video above, then fill out the form below so I may have a better record of our General Veterans. Please do not fill out this form if you are previously listed unless you need to update some of your info by using the comment section below. Please use this form rather than emailing me the info as suggested in the video.
Service Members Calling Home
Dink and Marty Hollingsworth
LHS '65
With Veterans Day being next week I happened to watch an interview with a group of mothers who are working to improve the ability to communicate with Active Duty Service Members. They indicated often all they have is a satellite phone and internet access and the troops often have to share access or wait, that the troops often are away from home eight months or more.
What? Eight Months with just a satellite phone.
Marty and I were in Germany, about 18 months for her and 24 months for me. We did not have phones, TV, ATM machines etc and the most inexpensive way we communicated was reel to reel tapes we could send like a letter. Each of our immediate family members had their own recorder and these were invaluable. There was a technical issue, the US was on 110 volts and Europe was on 220 volts, we had a converter that would lower current to 110 but we found the tapes would be faster or slower. We solved that by finding a recorder in a Germany electronic store with variable speed so we could speed up or slow down tapes.
We had two options on calling home. Going on base and getting a relay where a call would go to the nearest base in the states and then be patched to the relative. We found in addition to waiting hours, the call was very poor. Instead we could go the Der Bundespost (Post Office) where there were lines of phone booths and wait for a line to open. The only lines were transatlantic cables and very expensive, $20 for a 3 minute call.
Local German movie theaters would have US movies dubbed in German, 25 cents each.
We were rarely entertained by the USO in our location. The exception was Dave Dudley and Charlie Pride so often that Pride remembered Marty and me. Before and after each performance entertainers would mingle with the troops, sitting at their tables for a few minutes.
There was a single AFN TV station but was available in the major areas, ie Ramstein Air Base, Berlin, Bonn etc. We were in the "boonies" (Boon Docks) 30 kilometers from everything. We had an AFN radio station but programing attempted to have a 30 minute program of News (from Stars and Stripes), Top 40 music, Classical, etc and then there was "The Sixteen O Five From Nashville". Sixteen O Five of course was the time of the day, 1605 hours which was 4:05 in the afternoon.
Thanks to everyone that wants to improve communications with troops, it will never be like calling New York from Alabama but certainly better than what Marty and I endured.
Memphis, TN - On Veterans Day, Monday, November 11, 2019, I have been asked to be the guest speaker at the Bartlett City Veterans Day ceremonies. My subject will be "Preserving Your Military History" and I will be urging all the veterans to take the time to pass on to their families the information about their military service. One way to do so is to participate in the Library of Congress - Veterans History Project which collects each veterans story and preserves them in the Library of Congress for future reference. It is a free project and is available through various university or military organizations such as the V.F.W. or American Legion Posts.
Also, if you are a veteran or your parents were you can get a copy of your DD-214 or other valuable information from the National Archives. They also replace lost medals awarded to veterans.
https://www.archives.gov/veterans
An Invitation for Our Classmates
Cathey Polly
LHS '68
Maura and I are Lee High Class of '68 and are hoping to have some Lee alumnae gather to eat when we are in Huntsville this month. Maura Farrell Daniell and Cathey Polly will be eating at Gibson's Bar-B-Que (3319 Memorial Pkwy SW, Huntsville, AL 35801) on Friday, November 15, at 5:00, and would love for you to join us! She has graciously invited the group to her new condo afterward to continue our visit. Please let us know if you can join us by emailing catheypolly@yahoo.com
Frank Brown Songwriter's Festival
Jim McBride
LHS '65
Below is my schedule for the frank brown songwriter's festival. The festival starts Nov. 7, however I don't play until the 14th, 15th, and 16th. We had several classmates there last year. Jeannne and I would love to see any and all of our Fami-Lee there.
Thursday Nov. 14
7:00 p.m.
Sunset Cork Room
Nice restaurant in Gulf Shores. Not sure if you will need reservations.
Kerry Kurt Phillips, Jim Rushing Jim Mcbride
Friday Nov. 15
7:00 P.M.
Main room Flora-Bama
This is the most desired stage in the Festival. This is where the festival started 35 years ago. You may be able to get tickets in advance, not sure. Cover charges if any are very inexpensive.
Kerry Kurt Phillips, Jim Rushing, Jim (Moose) Brown, Jim Mcbride
Saturday Nov. 16
3:00 P.M.
The Point Restaurant on Innerarity Point Road
Family style restaurant for many years. The first two shows will be standing room only. Not sure about the Saturday show.
The writers I will be on stage with have written hit songs for Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and many more famous artists.
Last Week's Name That Tune
Linda Collinsworth Provost, LHS '66, "Guesses for music trivia"
1- Little Red Riding Hood
2
3
4- Red Rubber Ball by The Cyrkle- this song was popular during the time of my first trip to Panama City, Fla
5- Red Roses for A Blue Lady
Jeffrey Fussell, LHS '66 "No surprise that I didn’t recognize the Sevilles “Charlena” – the only version I ever heard was the Continentals! I always regarded that as their signature song.
This week’s selections were a lot easier.
“Little Red Riding Hood” – Sam “The Sham” Samudio and the Pharaohs
“Snoopy vs the Red Baron” The Royal Guardsmen
“Red River Rock” – Johnny and the Hurricanes
“Red Rubber Ball” – The Cyrkle
“Red Roses for a Blue Lady” – Vic Dana
As is often the case, “Little Red Riding Hood” is one we play regularly. People still love it.
Max Kull, LHS '67 also correctly identified all five songs.
This Week's Name That Tune
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