Veterans Day

Harford Transit LINK, will be providing a free shuttle bus service for the Veterans Day event at the Liriodendron Mansion, 502 West Gordon Street, Bel Air, on Saturday. The shuttle service will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All Harford Transit LINK buses are ADA compliant (wheelchair accessible) to make sure everyone is transported safely and comfortably, according to a county press release. Passengers can board at the lower lot of the Liriodendron Mansion and the buses will take them directly to the building.

A century and a half ago — and a drive of about two and a half hours from Harford County in modern times — Union and Confederate forces were in the midst of positioning themselves to become the masters of Harpers Ferry at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. The troops converging in late May of 1862 on the town, then part of Virginia as West Virginia was in the process of being established by virtue of its counties being pro-Union even as the balance of the state became the seat of government for the rebellion, would clash on the Maryland side.

Mission BBQ really is serious about its commitment to honoring America's men and women in uniform. On Friday, while supplies last, veterans will be treated to a sandwich and slice of cake at Mission BBQ in Glen Burnie, and not just any cake but one Charm City Cakes is making for the occasion, modeled after Bam Bam, the restaurant's signature "Mission Mobile" - a retrofitted Army truck, complete with its own grill and smoker, Mission BBQ...

Members of the Parkton American Legion Post 256 and the Legion Auxiliary have been busy cooking and serving meals to veterans. Auxiliary president Jean Brown said auxiliary members served 140 turkey dinners at the Parkton post to military men and women on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. On Dec. 4, post member Bill Altvater and 14 volunteers from both the legion and auxiliary took lunch to the Veterans Administration Medical Center on Loch Raven Boulevard....

Recently, I was fortunate to be able to join my father on the WWII Liberty Ship, S.S. John W. Brown, on a two-hour cruise to honor America's veterans. The ship was teeming with people from all walks of life who were either veterans themselves or who, like me, were there with a veteran. Robert E. Lee once said, "It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it. " His words certainly rang true as I soon found myself talking to veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq, wars where so many lives were lost.

The first members of the city's new veterans commission were sworn in Wednesday at a Veterans Day ceremony at the War Memorial in downtown Baltimore. "This new commission will serve as the voice for veterans who live in the city and help us to better address their needs," said Mayor Sheila Dixon, who was joined at the ceremony by veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq, as well as Junior ROTC cadets from city high schools. The unpaid 11-member commission, which will be chaired by former Del. Clarence "Tiger" Davis, an Air Force veteran, is charged with boosting awareness of veterans and helping those who live or work in the city obtain education and health care.

In the crowd gathered Wednesday in Towson's Patriot Plaza on the eve of Veterans Day, a retired Army sergeant stood proudly at attention, during the presentation of colors, the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance. Gordon Pinkney, whose 34 years of service include combat tours in Vietnam and Iraq, wore a cap that said "Buffalo Soldiers. " On it was a patch that depicted a cavalry man and read, "We can we will. " "Ceremonies like this show you all care," Pinkney said. "That is all any soldier wants to hear.

On this Veterans Day, I fondly think about my time serving as a physician-in-training at a New York Veterans Administration hospital. The year was 2000. The Gulf War was over. Our national debt was $5.7 trillion. Jobs were abundant. And "Gulf War Syndrome" was the biggest health concern for our veterans. The VA's motto always resonated with me: "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan. " And I tried my best to care for my patients with Gulf War Syndrome, despite the unexplainable complexity of their symptoms — ranging from depression and anxiety to irritable bowels and limb weakness.

American Legion Towson Post No. 22 will host a Veterans Day commemoration to honor men and women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces on Friday, Nov. 11, 11 a.m., at the Wayside Cross, located at York Road and Shealy Avenue, Towson. All are invited. After the Wayside Cross ceremony, the Towson Elks will conduct a service at the Vietnam Memorial on the grounds of the Old Courthouse in Towson.

Harford County government offices will be closed tomorrow for Veterans Day. The Harford County Waste Disposal Center will be closed, but Waste to Energy will be open. Harford transit will operate on a limited schedule. Harford County Public Library and senior centers are closed. Public schools are open.

On the birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps, I found myself in a waiting room at the hospital. A man about 55 years old walked by wearing a camouflage coat and a military hat. I instinctively asked him about his service and wished him a happy Veterans Day. He told me he wears that particular hat for his father who fought at Iwo Jima. Not long after, we were both standing beside his father's hospital bed. Tears ran down the face of the man in the camouflage coat. He was proud of his dad and what he had done in service of our country.

Doug Groft admitted as he walked down the halls of Scott Key High School that he probably couldn't find his way around now, with all of the additions over the years. He could, however, remember clearly the four years he served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam, and it was those memories he shared with a science class on Wednesday, Nov. 9. While he didn't travel to Vietnam - by "luck of the draw," he said - he did travel to the Arctic Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Middle East on an aircraft carrier.

Mission BBQ really is serious about its commitment to honoring America's men and women in uniform. On Friday, while supplies last, veterans will be treated to a sandwich and slice of cake at Mission BBQ in Glen Burnie, and not just any cake but one Charm City Cakes is making for the occasion, modeled after Bam Bam, the restaurant's signature "Mission Mobile" - a retrofitted Army truck, complete with its own grill and smoker, Mission BBQ...

The Laurel-Beltsville Senior Activities Center is hosting a Veterans Day Luncheon Thursday, Nov. 10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the center, 7120 Contee Road, honoring those who have served. Please bring a picture of yourself or a loved one in uniform for the Table of Honor. Share your stories, your memories and your past. As a special honor to our veterans, the Department of Family Services, Aging Division, who is a co-sponsor, is providing the lunch. Cost is $5 for Prince George's and Montgomery County residents, $6 for non-residents.

The 11th hour is a term that's become part of the English language. Born of war, it has come to mean a deal struck at the last minute. Its origin is the dubious end of World War I, known before World War II as The Great War, a negotiated armistice that took effect at 11 a.m. Nov. 11, 1918, though it had been agreed to many hours prior to that. Because of the lapse between the signing of the cease fire agreement and the actual cease fire, deadly military operations continued, even as it was known to those giving and taking orders that the operations were pointless.

Harford County will hold a special observance in Bel Air to honor of the service of veterans to our country for Veterans Day 2011 which this year falls on 11-11-11. A three-days of special events will run from Thursday through Saturday. There will be patriotic music, a parade, all kinds of exhibits geared to the young and old alike and many remembrances from and about Harford County men and women who have served our country. Celebrating Harford Veterans is being coordinated by the Historical Society of Harford County.

These agencies will be closed tomorrow for Veterans Day:* Carroll County government offices.* Department of Social Services.* Human Services Programs of Carroll County Inc.* All branches of the county public library.* County senior centers.* County circuit and district courts.* New Windsor town offices.* Sykesville town offices.These agencies will be open on Veterans Day:* Carroll County public schools and school system offices.* Northern Landfill and the Recycling Center.* Hampstead town offices.

Story session, prayer services and breakfast among offerings Several organizations will observe Veterans Day with services as follows: Westminster Senior and Community Center will hold a Veterans Day program at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at 125 Stoner Ave. Seniors are requested to take memorabilia, photos and souvenirs to share. Songs, readings and a guest speaker will be featured. Lunch reservations are required. 410-386-3850. Mount Airy branch library will hold a program, "Honor Our Vets," for teens and adults at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at 705 Ridge Ave. Members from the Mount Airy Veterans of Foreign Wars post will tell stories from their service.

Veterans Day, and once again I'm shouting in my head: You people want to honor veterans? How about we dump the patriotic tinsel and give them something they can use - like all the effort it's going to take to heal their wounds for years to come. I'm working on the anger. I've been reading Paul K. Chappell's "The End of War," a shining little book that gives me hope. Mr. Chappell is a young West Point graduate who served in Iraq and now goes about the country making the argument - kindly, intelligently, unflinchingly - that peace is something we can actually achieve.

Wherever Alvin T. Jones has lived throughout his adult life, he has reserved wall space for his Navy memorabilia. He displays his three Air Medals and his Distinguished Flying Cross, his honorable discharge, dated 1945, and a wedding photo of a young uniformed sailor and his bride. Another photo shows Jones in the center of the 10-member crew of a B-24 bomber. At 89, he recalls the name and assignment of each man posing in 1944 in front of that plane. Most notably, he recalls his pilot, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the smiling young man holding a puppy in the picture.