East L.A. Sports Scene Salutes Our Veterans

 A Special Message From The Editor: Although the official recognition of our national holiday of Veterans Day, 2014, has passed, East L.A. Sports Scene will continue to thank each and every day, on our “Fields of Play,” all of our Chicano, Latino, Hispanic viewers and supporters who are veterans of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard. We thank you for your dedicated and unwavering service to our Nation. At the same time, we take this moment to also salute and thank the families of our beloved veterans, who have passed on from this world, but have left behind their most loved ones. This is for you as well! Your Heroism, Citizenship, and Sacrifice are the touchstones of Life that we acknowledge on this National Holiday in your names. To see the larger perspective of how and why we admire and appreciate our Chicano/Latino/Hispanic veterans, let me share an important factoid taken from the U.S. Census Bureau. There are 21.2 million military veterans in the U.S. as of 2012 and 5.7% of those veterans are of Latino/Hispanic heritage. Lastly, we would like to acknowledge our young Chicano/Latino/Hispanic, men and women student-athletes, currently enrolled in the Academies of the Armed Forces at West Point, (Army), Annapolis, (Navy), Colorado Springs, (Air Force) and New London (Coast Guard). These young citizens are true bearers of the standard that through sports and service to your country, you can also achieve your goals and fulfill your dreams.

        All veterans, from generation to generation, have always  fought valiantly and proudly in our Nation’s conflicts while protecting the life of our democracy. Many veterans were of course, great and gifted athletes who made their personal decision to forego promising careers in sports, and instead enlisted in all branches of the Armed Forces. Although much has changed recently in our military, the conflicts still continue in the Middle East, and we remain on permament alert to the Global War on Terrorism. Our youngest generation now stands at the forefront of these deadly conflicts! We must continue to support them as veterans once they return home from their tours of duty.

  Background: Veterans Day was created to honor and pay respect to all the men and women that have served our nation. The holiday was originally called “Armistice Day” and was first celebrated Nov. 11, 1919 on the first anniversary of the end of World War I. But it was not until 1926 that Congress passed a resolution to observe the day and it became a national holiday in 1938. Curious about when Armistice Day became Veterans Day? In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the appropriate legislation to have the name changed to ensure every individual that served in all American wars would be celebrated.

 Memorable Quotes:

 “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” —John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” —Maya Angelou

 Composed by: Rico Cabrera, Sr./East LA Sports Scene.Com

Credits: Wikipedia.org; Google.com; 123greetings.com; L.A. Times