Veterans Day: 'I Try to Make it a Positive'

Memorial Day is a solemn occasion while Veterans Day is more of a holiday earned by members of the military who have served – at least that is how James Rebman, the senior vice commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 308 in Newtown, said he likes to think of it.

"I try to make it a positive," Rebman said of Veterans Day. "I try, in my mind, to make it more of a happy day."

He doesn't always succeed, though. Rebman, who served aboard a Navy submarine during the 1980s, and as a reservist in the Air Force, was sent to Qatar, Afghanistan and Iraq in the past 10 years, said it can be hard to separate the victories veterans have won from the sacrifices many have made.

"It's very hard because they all blend together," Rebman said of Memorial and Veterans days. The former is held to remember the veterans who have died while in service to their country while the later is to pay tribute to all who have served.

Sometimes during Veterans Day ceremonies, such as the one held at the Newtown VFW Friday morning, Rebman said his mind will wander to the memories of the young men and women he has seen go off to and return from war, toting guns and being asked to fight as adults but in their downtime playing video games like typical teenagers.

"I've seen enough that you start to think about it," he said.

Dan Kearns, the commander of the Newtown VFW, said it's important for people to remember the sacrifices troop members continue to make.

"There's still a war going on," he said. "That's what people have got to remember."

Peter Sturges, 58, a Vietnam War veteran who grew up in Newtown, said that when he returned home from the war in 1972, all he wanted to do was to get on with his life.

"When I first came home, there were no bands, no parades," he said. "When I first came home from the military, I pretty much wanted to put it behind me and forget."

It was only been in more recent years that Sturges, who joined the VFW in 1991, has allowed himself to reflect back on that time, he said.

"When I joined, I wanted to get out of town and see something different," Sturges said.

As a 17-year-old, he was first sent to Germany before volunteering to go to Vietnam. Sturges spent the first five months in the service repairing radios and later was sent to serve as a machine gunner on an armored personnel carrier – later assigned to the 111th Army Cavalry in Vietnam.

"I tried to serve with honor and compassion," Sturges said. "It was tough. You didn't know who the enemy was."

While he said he was opposed to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, he supports the War on Terror, particularly in light of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and suicide bombers.

"It's a lot more of a threat than Communism was," Sturges said.

This year, in tribute to to Veterans Day, the VFW also held a raffle for a Harley Davidson motorcycle that will raise $5,000 to $6,000 for charitable purposes, including scholarships and veteran programs.