Neat rows of young ROTC cadets, dressed smartly in their crisp, green uniforms, stood at attention Tuesday morning in front of the bronze Victory Memorial at 35th Street and King Drive. A baritone voice rang out “The Star-Spangled Banner.” A half dozen flags fluttered in the brisk wind.
And the cadets, braving the cold, held their salutes with firm knuckles.
The scene at the Veterans Day ceremony staged by the George L. Giles American Legion Post 87 in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, while evoking the traditional symbols of Veterans Day, also pointed to a more recent trend: apathy toward a U.S. holiday proclaimed by President Dwight Eisenhower as a day “dedicated to world peace.”
This indifference was reflected in the sparse crowd and the motorists wooshing by without giving so much as a second glance.
“Used to be this whole street would be filled with people marching. You don’t see that anymore,” said Ruben Carroll, 84, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
For a number of reasons, many veterans say Nov. 11, once celebrated worldwide as Armistice Day to mark the end of World War I, has lost some of its significance.
They say that children only rejoice on Veterans Day because they’re off from school and that adults complain about closed banks and government offices. They lament that even parking meters need to be fed as normal.
Veterans cite several reasons for this trend: a country at peace; the end of the Cold War; the collapse of communism; and concern about violence at home rather than abroad. There’s another factor: A generation of people has grown up without ever serving in a war.
“We don’t have the threats that may have been very obvious 10 or 15 years ago,” said Joann Williams, a 17-year veteran of the Army and the American Legion’s senior vice commander. “So I don’t think there is the sense of history and sacrifice that many veterans have made over the years.”
Williams said the connection between the peace of a nation and the sacrifices of soldiers to maintain that peace is difficult to impress upon late 20th Century Americans, especially the young.
“I don’t think young people understand that the peace we enjoy today is because of veterans,” she said. “Young people don’t have the draft to worry about. The country is at peace. And the Soviet Union is no longer a threat.”
Still, members of Bronzeville’s American Legion did their best Tuesday morning to honor past and current American soldiers.
After a parade from 43rd to 35th Streets along King Drive, the veterans gathered before the Victory Memorial to hear speeches. Then came a 21-gun salute while an aging veteran bellowed taps on the bugle.
Though he played for fallen comrades, the bugler could have just as well been playing taps for a holiday that seems to be slipping from the American conscience.
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Just ask the dozens of children gathered at Kelvyn Park for Super Kids Day, a Chicago Park District event meant to mark Veterans Day. The salute consisted of little more than a few red-white-and- blue balloons adorning the gymnasium. And the screaming children showed more interest in the obstacle course and card games than the holiday’s time of remembrance.
Asked to name some war veterans, a group of preteens scratched their heads. Finally, they blurted out some names.
“Abraham Lincoln,” offered a brave soul. “Martin Luther King,” shouted another.
“What about Hootie?” questioned one boy, referring to the lead singer from the popular band Hootie and the Blowfish.
Not all were quite so befuddled by the holiday.
Javier Gonzales, 10, recalled his late grandfather, who served in the Army during World War II and once explained to him the meaning of Veterans Day.
“He told me it was about lots of people that died when they were in war,” said Javier, who professed to want to join the Army one day. “Veterans Day is important because all of these people tried to save states, countries and people.”
As he spoke, Javier stared at the Veterans Day card he constructed for his grandfather. He had scrawled, “Thank you for saving my state” in black marker over a picture of a U.S. soldier shooting an enemy.
Across the Chicago area, there were pockets of traditional Veterans Day patriotism.
At a gathering in Wilder Park in Elmhurst, Fred Bucholz dismissed talk about withering interest in veterans and Veterans Day.
“I don’t think less turnout means anything. People still care,” said Bucholz, who lost two uncles in World War II.
But Bill Ralston, a member of the American Legion Post 187 in Elmhurst and a World War II veteran, disagreed.
“It’s just dying out,” he said. “Everybody is so busy working, raising kids. They just don’t have the patriotism.”
For several Vietnam veterans, the lack of public fanfare on Veterans Day came as no big surprise.
During a daylong program at Chicago’s National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, 1801 S. Indiana Ave., several veterans said they were accustomed to being ignored by the public. There were no big parades for them when they returned from the war, they said, so why be startled that there aren’t any now?
“I came home in 1964, and it took until 1986 to say, `Welcome home,’ ” said Vietnam veteran Garland Eleby, referring to the city’s 1986 parade that for the first time included Vietnam veterans. “I’m not saying treat us special, but at least treat us equally–like the other veterans.”
Echoing the anger of some Vietnam veterans, Jim Kelly said he believes that “nobody cares” about war veterans anymore, period.
“I think the GI today is pretty much forgotten,” said Kelly, a Chicago Police Department neighborhood relations officer.
“I don’t think any of us want to be honored. If we’re looking for anything now,” Kelly said, pausing for a moment, “it’s closure.”