What's Brewin: Six ways to honor those who served

This Tuesday marks Veterans Day, and federal workers have two choices on this day off: shop or honor veterans.

Comment on this article in The Forum.Since the economy has tanked, save money and take the time to pay tribute.

Go to a Parade, Bring the Kids

It’s hokey, but also marvelously evocative of an America that existed before the invention of the iPod. The kids will enjoy the parade more if you tell them to leave the earbuds at home.

Small-town parades truly capture the spirit of the day, and if you live in the greater Washington area, I suggest you make the event in Leonardtown, Md., roughly a one-hour drive south of Washington.

This is the largest Veterans Day parade in the state, and Tom Warren, parade chairman, told me he expects about 100 marching units with about 4,500 participants. The marching units include veterans organizations, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and fire and rescue departments, including some with “old-time fire engines,” Warren said.

The parade kicks off at 10 a.m., and if you need more information, you can contact Warren at 301-863-5868.

If you live outside the Washington area and want to go to a parade, check out the excellent Veterans Day Parades Web site from Vetfriends.com.

Visit a Veterans Cemetery

Bring some flowers and then walk the rows of the fallen. When you find the grave of a veteran who paid the ultimate price that does not have a floral tribute, place your bunch of flowers on the stone and in a moment of silence reflect on the sacrifice of “your” veteran.

While doing this, turn off the cell phone -- no one needs to take a call in a cemetery on Veterans Day.

Buy a Poppy – Invoke 'In Flanders Fields'

Buy a red cloth poppy from VFW members who will be selling them on streets in towns large and small from Washington to Wasilla. Disabled and needyindigent veterans assemble the poppies, and the annual sale raises millions of dollars for these vets.

The poppy evokes memories of the flowers that bloomed on the World War I battlefield of Flanders Fields, and commemorated in the poem “In Flanders Fields,” by Canadian Army surgeon, Lt. Col. John McRae.

Canada features lines from this poem on its $10 bill. If you don’t have a Canadian $10 bill around, here’s the text:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead.
Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw,
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us, who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow,
In Flanders Fields.

Silence

Veterans Day used to be called Remembrance Day. It harks back to the World War I armistice, which occurred on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. For years it has been marked by silence.

So, on Veterans Day this year, please remember the fallen at the appointed hour and minute with a moment of silence,which means taking out the earbuds and turning off the cell phone for one whole minute.

This exercise sure was easier in the analog era.

Sing a Song of the Melting Pot

Go to the Vietnam Memorial, or any small town war memorial. To read the names is to sing a song of the vast sweep of people and cultures that have borne the brunt of battle: Irish, African-American, Italian, Polish, Native American, Mexican, Vietnamese and Canadians, with more than 100 of our comrades from our northern neighbor commemorated on the Vietnam Wall.

Listen to Some Veteran Poetry

The Memorial Day Writers Project has set up its tent near the Vietnam Memorial every Veterans and Memorial Day since 1993 to provide a place for veterans and their friends to remember their service and comrades in words and music.

Please join us. The tent is located in Constitution Gardens, just behind the sidewalk facing Constitution Avenue and 21st Street. Readings start at 11:30 a.m. and continue to 5:30 p.m.

Consider this a shameless plug.

My Honor Roll

This is the time of the year to honor family and friends who have served:

All my comrades from 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines and 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Vietnam
1965/1966

My father, Walter Brewin
Army Air Corps
WW II
Okinawa and the Philippines

My father-in-law, William Suess
Tin Can Sailor
WW II
Atlantic and Pacific

Lewis B. Puller Jr.
Friend and fellow Marine
Who touched me with his grace.

Marine Maj. Cornelius Ram
The best company commander any Marine could ever have.

And those who still serve: Army Lt. Col. George Wright and Navy. Capt. David Wray.