Honoring Our Veterans: A Family Story

By Amy Suski

Like many families, Veteran's Day has special meaning for us.  Members of the family have served in the Army and the Navy and two grandparents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.  One of those grandparents, "W.T." or "Dub" was a young father and Army medic when he went missing in Korea. For decades his wife (an Army nurse) and 2-year old daughter never knew what happened to him.  Then, against all odds just a few years ago the North Korean government returned six sets of human remains during a diplomatic mission by Governor Bill Richardson for the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  One of those sets had W.T.'s dog tags and was eventually positively identified as W.T. Sixty years after he went missing, W.T. was finally laid to rest at Arlington  -- something no one ever thought would be possible.  Perhaps finding peace in the knowledge that her husband was finally home, W.T.'s widow (our grandmother) passed away just three months later and was buried alongside him.  The pictures here are of her funeral procession at Arlington.  As a Captain in the Army, she was offered her own headstone at Arlington, but had chosen instead to be buried with W.T. under his headstone.

On Veteran's Day our family remembers our grandparents and the sacrifices made by so many veterans and their families.  In addition to visiting Arlington Cemetery, there are many events around the area on November 11 that provide an opportunity for families to honor our veterans:

• Air Force Memorial: 11:00 a.m. wreath-laying ceremony.
• City of Alexandria: 1:00 p.m. 13th Annual Veteran's Day Ceremony at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center.
• Mount Vernon Salutes Veterans: special activities include a veteran barbershop concert at 11:00 a.m. and a wreath-laying at George Washington's tomb at 2:00 p.m.  Active duty military personnel and veterans are admitted free-of-charge.
• National Mall Veterans Day Concert: tribute concert at 7:00 p.m. includes appearances by Oprah, Will Smith, Eminem, Jamie Foxx, Metallica, John Oliver, Rihanna, Bruce Springsteen, Carrie Underwood and more.  Large crowds are expected -- so if you have young children it may be easier to watch the live broadcast on HBO.
• National Marine Corps Museum: 12:00 p.m. ceremonial sword cake cutting.
• Navy Memorial: 12:00 p.m. wreath-laying ceremony
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial: 1:00 p.m. wreath-laying ceremony, color guard, and speakers.
• Vietnam Women's Memorial: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. story-telling by veterans and their families.  
• World War II Memorial: 9:00 a.m. wreath-laying ceremony.

Our boys laying flowers on their great-grandmother's grave at Arlington.

For more information about special events and activities to engage students, please visit www.va.gov.