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VOICE ONE:
November eleventh is a day Americans honor men and women who haveserved in the United States armed forces. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Faith Lapidus. Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, from VOASpecial English. This week — a report about Veterans Day.
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VOICE ONE:
The United States has nineteen-million war veterans. But the term”veteran” is not just for soldiers who have served in wars. Itdescribes anyone who has ever been in the military.
On November eleventh, communities across the United States holdceremonies to observe Veterans Day. Parades take place on thisholiday. Military bands play. The president and other publicofficials give speeches. And, soldiers fire guns into the air toremember those who died in service to their country.
There is a separate holiday to honor members of the armedservices who were killed. The United States observes Memorial Day inMay.
VOICE TWO:
Congress wanted the nation to hearthe stories of its older veterans. Many veterans have reached oldage. Each day, more than one-thousand veterans die. So, intwo-thousand, Congress created a program to keep these memoriesalive for future Americans. It is called the Veterans HistoryProject.
The Library of Congress Folklife Center collects recorded storiesand written histories from veterans. It also gathers memorableobjects.
The Veterans History Project includes people who served in WorldWars One and Two. It includes men and women who served in Korea,Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War in nineteen-ninety-one. People whoserved in civilian jobs in the military are also invited to takepart.
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VOICE ONE:
Many people called World War One “the war to end all wars.” Itlasted from nineteen-fourteen to nineteen-eighteen.
The United States entered the fighting in nineteen-seventeen. InApril it declared war against Germany. But the United States armedforces were small. So the government ordered every man between theages of twenty-one and thirty-one to report for military duty.
VOICE TWO:
The men came from cities and farms. Some were rich. Others werepoor. There were doctors, lawyers, businessmen, professionalathletes and college students. Many were married.
More than nine-and-a-half million men reported for duty in Juneof nineteen-seventeen. The military chose about six-hundred-thousandto serve. They went through military training camps before going toFrance.
The following year, the government expanded the draft. Now itcalled on all men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. Morethan thirteen-million reported for duty. The Army did not haveenough bases to train all the new soldiers. So, it used manycolleges and universities as military training centers.
VOICE ONE:
The Navy and Marine Corps had about eighty-two-thousand men whenthe United States entered World War One. A year later, there werealmost three times that many sailors and Marines.
Many women joined the armed forces, too. Most got office jobs atmilitary bases in the United States. Some, however, went to Franceas nurses in battlefield hospitals.
VOICE TWO:
A man named Alvin York was honored as one of the greatestAmerican heroes of World War One. He came from a poor family in thestate of Tennessee. He opposed all wars. He said his religiousbeliefs prevented him from killing. But he was forced to join theArmy. He was sent to fight the Germans who invaded France.
Alvin York shot many enemy soldiers. He was responsible forcapturing one-hundred-thirty-two German prisoners. The United Statesand France both honored Sergeant Alvin York for his bravery.
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VOICE ONE:
World War One ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day ofthe eleventh month. Germany surrendered at eleven o’clock in themorning on November eleventh, nineteen-eighteen.
On that day, thousands of Americans were completing theirmilitary training in the United States. Others were either in Franceor on boats sailing to France.
American soldiers who had fought overseas wanted to return to thelife they knew before. Almost overnight, the number of troops in theAmerican armed services dropped to what it had been before the war.
VOICE TWO:
In nineteen-nineteen, President Woodrow Wilson signed adeclaration of November eleventh as Armistice Day in the UnitedStates. It would be a day to honor the men and women who had servedin the American armed forces during the war.
About two-million Americans served in Europe during the FirstWorld War. More than one-hundred-sixteen-thousand were killed.Two-hundred-thirty-five thousand others were wounded.
In nineteen-twenty-six, Congress made Armistice Day a nationalholiday. But new problems were on the way. Soon, everyone knew thatWorld War One had not been the war to end all wars.
In all, more than four-million Americans served in the armedforces during the First World War. Four times that many would serveduring the second.
VOICE ONE:
Most of the Americans who served in World War Two in Europe andthe Pacific were eighteen or nineteen years old. They were thechildren of World War One veterans.
The United States entered the war in December nineteen-forty-one,after Japan attacked the Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
During World War Two, Americans came to learn the names of menlike Audie Murphy and Carl Klett.
VOICE TWO:
Audie Murphy was the son of farm laborers in Texas. He was ateen-ager when he joined the Army and went to fight in Europe. Overa period of three years, he earned thirty-three medals for bravery.These included the Congressional Medal of Honor. He killed more thantwo-hundred-forty enemy soldiers and captured others.
After the war, Audie Murphy became famous as a Hollywood movieactor.
VOICE ONE:
Carl Klett was a flier from Chesterton, Indiana. He pilotedsupply planes. In nineteen-forty-four, he had made seventy-fiveflights over a dangerous mountain area in Burma. Seventy-five wasthe number of flights required for a pilot to be sent back to theUnited States.
But Lieutenant Klett heard that an Army hospital in the Burmesejungle needed medicine and equipment. He offered to make one moreflight. His plane crashed, and he was killed.
VOICE TWO:
Germany surrendered in May nineteen-forty-five. That ended thewar in Europe. Japan surrendered in August of that year.
Armistice Day in nineteen-forty-five was a very special day inthe United States. Most of the men and women who had served in thewar were home. So, instead of just honoring veterans of World WarOne, Americans also honored veterans of World War Two.
In nineteen-fifty-four, Congress decided to change the name ofArmistice Day. The holiday became Veterans Day. By then almostsix-million more Americans had served in another war — the KoreanWar.
VOICE ONE:
Paulette Geer lives in Rockville, Maryland. She was a young Armynurse during the Korean War. She worked at Walter Reed Army Hospitalin Washington, D-C. The hospital served as a main treatment centerfor wounded soldiers. She helped care for men with terribleinjuries.
At one point, Paulette Geer was told of a plan for nurses toparachute into Korea. An airplane would drop them behind enemy linesto establish a battlefield hospital. She and other nurses offered totake part. But that flight never took place. Mizz Geer says that isprobably why she is alive today to tell about it.
VOICE TWO:
The Korean War ended in nineteen-fifty-three. In the years tofollow, almost nine-million Americans served in the military duringthe Vietnam War. That was the last time the United States held adraft. Since nineteen-seventy-three, no one has been required tojoin the military.
Many Americans today grew up with stories of family members whofought in Vietnam, or Korea or the battlefields of World War Two.Future stories will tell about places like Iraq and Afghanistan. Butthis November eleventh, as the nation honors its veterans, manyAmericans are thinking about family members still at war far fromhome.
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VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson. Our producer was CatyWeaver. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English program,THIS IS AMERICA.