Veterans Day is a day for storytelling, according to one veteran after another at the state's official observance on Monday.
Fittingly, the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs ceremony took place in a room filled with the photos and stories of Arkansans who have been awarded the Medal of Honor.
Each Veterans Day, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark, a retired four-star general who grew up in Little Rock, remembers his uncles, who served in both world wars, and his mother, who although born on Nov. 11 always made her birthday about armed services members instead of herself.
R.D. Kinsey, past commander of the American Legion Department of Arkansas, spends days like Monday thinking about his friend from Florida who served with him in the Air Force.
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., recalled to the crowd gathered at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History fond memories of long hikes and long nights spent in the elements like Monday's cool morning rain. Cotton served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army.
Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Veazey, the senior enlisted leader in the Arkansas National Guard, remembers three fellow Arkansas soldiers who were killed in action in the Middle East in 2004.
[GALLERY: Arkansas State Veterans Day Program » arkansasonline.com/1112veterans/]
"[Veterans Day] is like the passing of the Olympic torch," Veazey said. "Each generation has to keep passing on the memory of what the people did who came before us."
Monday's Veterans Day observance came 101 years after allied forces signed an armistice with Germany, ending World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Congress first recognized Armistice Day as a legal holiday in 1938 to celebrate peace. The holiday was changed in 1954 to instead become a celebration of all veterans.
From 1971 to 1977, the holiday was celebrated on the fourth Monday of October to conform to legislation that placed federal holidays like Memorial Day, Labor Day and George Washington's Birthday on Mondays. But in 1978, it was moved back to Nov. 11.
At the Little Rock museum on Monday, a diverse group of veterans took turns standing at attention as the 103rd Army Band played the song of their respective branches of the military.
An empty chair sat in the front of the room draped with the black flag honoring prisoners of war and those still missing in action. Cotton in his remarks at the museum noted legislation he recently shepherded through Congress alongside U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that will require the flags to be displayed at federal buildings year-round.
Veterans Day is an important time to reflect on the U.S. military and those who have served in it, Cotton said.
It's often easy to take the country's armed services for granted because "we're so used to their outstanding service, the senator said.
He added that the U.S. military is the only one in the world capable of executing last month's operation that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State extremist group.
"On Veterans Day, we should remember the reason we revere our troops so much," Cotton said. "It's not primarily for what they do, but for who they are. The foundation of their excellence is their character."
U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., also spoke at Monday's ceremony. Hill, like Cotton, is also working to guide legislation through Congress that would affect veterans. H.R. 4360 by Hill and Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., would shift the burden to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to repair the credit of veterans who have seen their credit negatively affected due to erroneous payments by the VA.
Hill, like many veterans in attendance, said that Veterans Day was a day to reflect on stories.
"Only 1% wear the uniform in this county," Hill said. "So, for a lot of people it's stories that inform their knowledge about the important role of our great armed forces."
Kinsey, the Air Force veteran, said that the way Americans celebrate Veterans Day can have national security implications. If young people don't see that veterans are treated with the utmost respect, why would they volunteer?
"Serving our county is one of the most rewarding things you can do," he said. "I hope young people pay attention and see what service really is, and that many follow in those footsteps."
Cotton agreed, saying that America is a city on a hill, not an island.
"A city on a hill needs guardians," he said.
A Section on 11/12/2019