The Fifteenth
Annual Memorial Day and Avenue of Flags Ceremony will be held
Saturday, May 25, at the Fair Oaks Cemetery, located at 7780 Olive
Street, Fair Oaks. The formal ceremonies start at 10 AM.
This
year’s theme is to honor “Our National Cemeteries”, with the
Emphasis on Hawaii’s Punch Bowl. The Punch Bowl is a cemetery
located in Honolulu, Hawaii that serves as a memorial to those men
and women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Dedicated on Sept 2, 1949, approximately
53,000 WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam veterans and their dependents have
been interred. It is administered by the National Cemetery
Administration of the U.S. Department of the Veteran Affairs and is
listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Chairman of the Fair Oaks Cemetery District
Memorial Day Committee, Tom Askins will be the Master of Ceremonies.
The musical program will be provided by the American Veterans Band,
conducted by Warren “Bud” Turner.
The
Fair Oaks Cemetery will be also decorated with hundreds of flags
lining its roadways as “The Avenue of Flags.” We will also be
adding more names to the Veterans Memorial Wall. The Honored Main
speaker will be Allen Hearl, Retired Navy Chaplin.
A
formal Color Guard and Rifle Salute Team will provide military honors
and assist with the laying of the wreath at the memorial in honor of
over seventeen hundred veterans who are buried in the cemetery.
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VA
History
The
United States has the most comprehensive system of assistance for
veterans of any nation in the world. This benefits system traces its
roots back to 1636, when the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony were at war
with the Pequot Indians. The Pilgrims passed a law which stated that
disabled soldiers would be supported by the colony.
The
Continental Congress of 1776 encouraged enlistments during the
Revolutionary War by providing pensions for soldiers who were
disabled. Direct medical and hospital care given to veterans in the
early days of the Republic was provided by the individual States and
communities. In 1811, the first domiciliary and medical facility for
veterans was authorized by the Federal Government. In the 19th
century, the Nation's veteran’s assistance program was expanded to
include benefits and pensions not only for veterans, but also their
widows and dependents.
After
the Civil War, many State veterans homes were established. Since
domiciliary care was available at all State veterans homes,
incidental medical and hospital treatment was provided for all
injuries and diseases, whether or not of service origin. Indigent and
disabled veterans of the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American
War, and Mexican Border period as well as discharged regular members
of the Armed Forces were cared for at these homes.
Congress
established a new system of veteran’s benefits when the United
States entered World War I in 1917. Included were programs for
disability compensation, insurance for service persons and veterans,
and vocational rehabilitation for the disabled. By the 1920s, the
various benefits were administered by three different Federal
agencies: the Veterans Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior
Department, and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.
The
establishment of the Veterans Administration came in 1930 when
Congress authorized the President to "consolidate and coordinate
Government activities affecting war veterans." The three
component agencies became bureaus within the Veterans Administration.
Brigadier General Frank T. Hines, who directed the Veterans Bureau
for seven years, was named as the first Administrator of Veterans
Affairs, a job he held until 1945.
The VA
health care system has grown from 54 hospitals in 1930, to include
152 hospitals; 800 community based outpatient clinics; 126 nursing
home care units; and 35 domiciliaries. VA health care facilities
provide a broad spectrum of medical, surgical, and rehabilitative
care. The responsibilities and benefits programs of the Veterans
Administration grew enormously during the following six decades.
World War II resulted in not only a vast increase in the veteran
population, but also in large number of new benefits enacted by the
Congress for veterans of the war. The World War II GI Bill, signed
into law on June 22, 1944, is said to have had more impact on the
American way of life than any law since the Homestead Act of 1862.
Further educational assistance acts were passed for the benefit of
veterans of the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Era, Persian Gulf War,
Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
In 1973,
the Veterans Administration assumed another major responsibility when
the National Cemetery System (except for Arlington National Cemetery)
was transferred to the Veterans Administration from the Department of
the Army. The Agency was charged with the operation of the National
Cemetery System, including the marking of graves of all persons in
national and State cemeteries (and the graves of veterans in private
cemeteries, upon request) as well and administering the State
Cemetery Grants Program. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was
established as a Cabinet-level position on March 15, 1989. President
Bush hailed the creation of the new Department saying, "There is
only one place for the veterans of America, in the Cabinet Room, at
the table with the President of the United States of America."
In 2009,
President Obama appointed Secretary Eric K. Shinseki to lead a
massive transformation of the VA into a high-performing 21st century
organization that can better serve Veterans. Under the leadership of
Secretary Shinseki, the VA has adopted three guiding principles to
govern the changes underway, namely being people-centric,
results-driven, and forward-looking. These principles are reflected
in the 16 major initiatives that serve as a platform from which
transformation is being executed.
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