American Legion observes Veterans Day

The Theodore Campbell Post No. 16 of the American Legion held its Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday night, as the post does each year.As usual, the names of the area's war dead were read aloud; more than 85 of them, though post officers said a new list reflecting those recently killed in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan is needed.

The speaker for the night was Capt. Jeff Scott, Chaplain at the Little Rock Air Force Base, who said he had been at his daughter's middle school earlier in the day to a Veterans Day observance. At this, Scott said, he noted many of the children seemed to take for granted their freedoms — their educations and choice in religion and beliefs.

"And it's not their fault — with age that truth becomes more prevalent and we get it‚ a little deeper about those who served."

Scott, a veteran of the first Gulf War, noted that in the first and the current conflict there it is a rare exception for American citizens to criticize or deride the soldiers who fight, regardless of what opinions the citizens may have of the politics leading to or continuing the nation's involvement.

That wasn't always the case, he said, and he told those in attendance that he was "grateful for those who went through those tough periods and didn't give up."

Before the ceremony a group of Conway Fire Department firefighters from the main fire station, across the street from the American Legion post, dropped in to say thanks, each of them shaking the hands of the veterans there.

"We're grateful for what you do," one veteran told the firefighters.

"It's nothing compared to what you guys did," was the response.