celebrating Veterans Day

With the famous Iwo Jima Memorial located in Rosslyn, our neighborhood is a leader in memorializing veterans.  In fact, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) chose the Iwo Jima Memorial in Rosslyn (VA) to lead off its Veterans Day 2010 video.

But Veterans Day is about service to the nation, not neighborhood pride.  This noble spirit of transcending narrow interests and loyalties (so difficult for the Ode Street Tribune to acquire) is clearly displayed in an informal tribute that was erected today on the front side of the Iwo Jima Memorial (which is in Rosslyn).  The cadets of the Paint Branch High School Navy Junior ROTC Unit erected a wreath and framed a tribute "to all veterans of the United States Marine Corps."   The tribute stated:

We, the cadets of the Paint Branch High School (Burtonsville, MD) Navy Junior ROTC Unit, thank you and honor you for your valiant service to your country.  From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli to Normandy to Guadalcanal to Okinawa to the Chosin Reservoir to the jungles of Vietnam, and to Iraq and Afghanistan, you have made us very proud and protected our freedoms and way of life here America.  Ooh-rah and Semper Fi!!!!

Inter-service rivalries in the armed forces have often been fiercely fought. This tribute from a Navy Junior ROTC Unit to Marine Corps veterans perfectly represents the spirit of Veterans Day.