Holiday commemorates unsung heroes

  PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Early Saturday
morning, Colonel and Mrs. Leman
Herridge clean the tombstone of a relative who served in
WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The couple visits the
cemetery often to pay respect to their four relatives buried
there.

By Ruby Jain
Daily Bruin Contributor

Veterans Day to many people is simply an interruption in the
usual mail delivery, but for veterans this past weekend it was a
celebration of sacrifices.

Adrienne Mohamed was 19 years old when she turned her patriotism
into the hope of joining the military.

To earn the high school diploma she needed to enlist, she
finished her freshman and sophomore years of high school in a year
and a half, then studied to pass the General Equivalency Diploma
while working the graveyard shift every night at a local cotton
mill.

“I was told to report to the Boston First Naval District
on June 23, 1953,” Mohamed, 68, recalled as tears welled in
her eyes at a barbeque at the Veteran’s Memorial
Hospital.

Her hopes were realized when she was recruited to work at a
station in Oakland to help amputees serving in the Korean War.

At the time, women represented just 2 percent of those training
to be in the military.

“I didn’t look for recognition. I did the best I
could and at night, I sleep well,” she said.

Many veterans, however, are bothered by the current lack of
appreciation they say they have received for their service.

“We were heroes before,” said Willie Island Jr., a
World War II Veteran. “Now, people look at you like
you’re stupid to go (serve). This country owes more to
veterans.”

The Veteran’s Hospital celebrated last week with a parade,
speeches and salutes. But many students chose not to participate in
the event, nor similar ones around the country.

“I know what Veterans Day is but I didn’t go to the
cemetery,” said Erik Barthel, a third-year graduate student
in chemistry.

For others, Veterans Day is an important event with personal
attachments.

“My grandfather was killed in World War II,” said
Dave Major, a second-year East Asian studies
student. “It shows me that freedom is not free; people
pay with their lives to defend it, and that we should
remember.”

Though some may think veterans come back from service and do not
contribute to society, veterans like Island show that this may not
always be the case.

He was discharged 50 years ago and soon became a
minister. For the past 10 years, Island has been visiting
jails and counseling prisoners.

“I think people’s perceptions of them have improved
and the stereotypes that they are going down by the wayside
don’t exist,” said Dr. Dean Norman, who has served as
Chief of Staff at Veteran’s Memorial Hospital for eight
years.

Those who serve their country experience constant and
unavoidable risks, as seen in the recent U.S.S. Cole attack. The
bombing killed 17 American sailors.

“Veterans put themselves on the line and I hold them in
high respect,” said Pleshette Houston, a nurse at the
Veterans hospital.

Recently California citizens voted to authorize a $500 million
bond to finance farm and home loans for veterans in the recent
election.

While those who served in the earlier wars were regarded with
sentiment, there seems to be less of an appreciation for
today’s veterans.

“I have no complaints,” Island said. But thinking
about servicemen today, he said, “I feel sorry for them
because people don’t know what to think about
them.”