State says 'thank you' to veterans

LITTLE ROCK — James Wages pushed himself up onto legs weakened by age, gripped his wheelchair for support with one gloved hand and raised the other to his brow to salute the passing flag.

The Camden native proudly wore his Navy uniform and, like most of the audience gathered in the Capitol rotunda Tuesday for Veterans Day, donned the trademark garrison cap of the VFW - Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Arkansas observed Veterans Day with the rest of the nation in a ceremony that began at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - the moment the armistice was signed in 1918 that ended World War I. The Arkansas National Guard's 106th Army Band added to the day's pageantry, as did a new law that allows all veterans to salute the flag, whether in uniform or not.

Wages fought his way to his feet unassisted time and again to salute the flag whenever required, from presentation of the colors to the national anthem totaps. His hands trembled at times with the effort, but he never hesitated. It was simply a matter of honor for the 81-year-old retired petty officer first class.

"We are here today to express our appreciation for our veterans. To look them in the eye today and say, 'Thank you,'" said Col. Mike Ross, deputy chief of staff for operations of the Arkansas National Guard. "To reach across the miles to our service members overseas. ... Let us not get so entwined in our daily lives that we forget tosay, 'Thank you.'"

He looked out on a crowd of veterans, some with wounds that will never fully heal.

A row of ribbons peeked out from behind Wages' tan jacket, giving a glimpse at his combat history with the Navy medical corps. The colorful slivers included more than one bronze star and service medals from World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Across the filled rotunda stood a line of the current gen-eration of sailors, quietly standing in sharp blue uniforms and holding their white caps in folded hands. Veterans of the U.S. Navy WAVES, the female division of the U.S. Navy from World War II, Tuskegee airmen from the nation's first black Air Corps unit, submariners, infantrymen, Marines, airmen and soldiers young and old - some Arkansans by birth and other by choice - remembered friends who were lost and those still serving.

Gov. Mike Beebe thanked the crowd for taking the time to remember those in uniform.

"If you speak English well, thank a teacher," he said, quoting a popular saying. "If you speak English at all, thank a soldier."

Beebe noted the veterans groups in the crowd, then called on the Vietnam War veterans to be recognized by the crowd.

"We don't often talk about the despicable way the American people treated Vietnam vets," he said. "And that's the word for it - 'despicable.'"

The comment was followed by a standing ovation by the crowd that brought tears to the eyes of some Vietnam veterans among them.

Jim Farrar, a retired Air Force technical sergeant and C-130 cargo plane loadmaster, stood in the rotunda as the crowd dispersed and told of the two times he returned home from Vietnam. He described walking through theSan Francisco airport in uniform as "dangerous." It was a difficult time, he said.

Gary George, a retired Air Force technical sergeant and C-130 flight engineer, said of the recognition, "It was about time - and well worth it."

The two men have known each other for decades and both earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for combat missions in Vietnam. The Distinguished Flying Cross is the fifth-highest military honor, bestowed on flight crews who exhibit "heroism or extraordinary achievement" in combat.

Like most decorated veterans, the two men shook off assertions that their achievements were extraordinary and simply said they were doing their job. Farrar belonged to a crew that dropped the heaviest bomb in combat at the time, kicking a 10,000-pound bomb on a pallet with a parachute out the back of a C-130B to clear a landing zone for ground troops.

Stories like his echoed around the white marble walls of the rotunda - tales of combat, of bravery and horror, of survival and loss.

"So on this Nov. 11, there's not more that we can say other than, No. 1, 'Thank you.' And No. 2, 'We love you,'" Beebe told the crowd. "We love you for your service to our country and what it means to the rest of us."