Armed Forces Day. Observed the third Saturday in May, this day is for all who currently serve and all who have served, both active and former, in the reserves, National Guard or on active duty, including the Coast Guard. It replaced separate days that honored various branches of the military (Army, Air Force and Navy).
Veterans Day. Celebrated annually on November 11, this day of observance is for all living and deceased who have served in the military.
Memorial Day. Celebrated annually on the last Monday in May, this day of observance is for all who died while serving
National Guard Birthday Celebrated December 13, honors all citizen-soldiers who have civilian jobs but are available to provide support and protection for the states’ civilians. They may be called for military operations at a national level.
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Veterans share their recollections of the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked. They were at war again.
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Japan needed resources and could only get them from other countries. The United States continued to try to prevent this. Japan sent an envoy to try to negotiate some sort of compromise, but the...
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"The American soldiers arrived, and the tanks came in and ran over those big, high fences like they were matchboxes." Veterans provide their remembrances of the end of the war in Europe and the...
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German soldiers were surrendering so fast, they just would surrender a whole unit and we couldn't handle them all. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was announcing "Today in Europe, the war is...
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Veterans reflect on being captured and taken prisoner or killed by the Germans. It was bitter cold, but the Americans knew better than to complain. There was never any food and there was nothing to...
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Veterans who arrived to rescue people in the camps describe what they saw; human skeletons barely alive, and some not able to walk. Some were fed too much, too soon, and died from overeating. Bodies...
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The Siegfried Line ran along the entire border of Germany from north to south. There was barbed wire, and there were land mines, and Dragon's Teeth, which were concrete blocks, that no tank could pass...
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Diny Adkins recalls being taken in by an elderly couple who later couldn't take care of her, so they took her to a nun. The nun kept her hidden in a closet and was very cold and mean to her. The nun...
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Veterans share their recollections of the Battle of the Bulge and the siege of Bastogne. It was the cold winter in 50 years, and they were not dressed for the cold. The sky was blackened with shells...
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Headed into in area in northern France, in which they thought they could rest, the 106th infantry division, 424th infantry, expected to have time to clean their weapons, take showers and have some...
