Veteran’s Day 2025. I wanted to so something different to make Veteran’s Day more personal, more meaningful than simply posting a “Thank You for Your Service”, actually a self-imposed Project Based Learning project. I did notice on the Delaware Humanities calendar the workshop – “Vietnam Mailbag” and since I had not had a chance to see this, and I was on the Delaware Humanities board, it made sense!

I was in a hurry to get to the American Legion Post 28 on time, and was seeing I was about 4 minutes late. I rushed in, and did in fact see a ceremony occurring with a room PACKED full of veterans, and spied a small map of Vietnam from the back from the room. Yet, nothing indicating this specific presentation. I asked the bartender at the time if this was the so and so presentation (forgetting the exact name from trying to slow down from getting here in the nick of time)- I was talking a little louder than I wanted to baed on the Ssssh’s she was giving back to me, but she did explain, “Well, this is the ceremony?!” but I wasn’t sure if it was THE ceremony I was looking for.

Thinking I might have made a mistake, I went back out to my car, checked my phone, gave a quick call to Executive Director Michele Anstine to make sure I was at the right place- kind of expected that she would be in maybe 2 other places, and with no answer, I was resolved, if I was in the right place, or was in the wrong place, it seemed right be in a place with veterans anyway to honor them.

I went back inside, took a seat and waited and listened. This is what I learned:

Beth McGinn, VP of the Auxiliary Unit 28 opened up the presentation.

The Commander of the American Legion Post 28 was John Brown, and the Captain was Jim Russell. There was a group tied to Post 28 named The Colorettes. Garth Miller was the Commander of the Sons of The Riders.

There was an obituary read for James Tommy Anderson:

He was 102 years old when he passed on August 1, 2025.

He was at The Battle of the Bulge, part of the Ghost Army as well as many European campaigns.

He enlisted in 1943 in the 406th as an auto mechanic.

He was there the day after Normandy’s D-Day, and made the phony tracks for the inflatable tanks used to deceive the German Army.

Thanks to the Allied Ghost Army, using visual, sonic, and audio techniques to mislead the German Army, between 15,000 to 30,000 lives were saved and received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2022.

About 1100 soldiers made up the Ghost Army, and were part of the 23rd HQ Special troops.

The information about what they did was classified for 50 (FIFTY) years, and then declassified in `1996.

When Commander Joe Brown took the microphone, he mentioned how prolific individuals that have made the sacrifice in the military (all branches) make up a part of our community in so many ways (Fire department, Police Department, educators, coaches, and so many more areas). He also mentioned how Coast Guard swimmer Scott Ruskan played such a vital part in the rescue at Camp Mystic.

The grim statistic he provided about how a high number of veterans are taking their lives daily, and emphasized the fact that the motto “Be the One” as the motto of the American Legion should also be extended to be “Be the One” that saves another life. He mentioned how important it is to know the hotline number – 9 8 8 for the Crisis hotline to help save these lives that have dedicated their lives for our freedom.

Also Commander Brown thanked the Sons of the Legion for their support.

AND, Believe it or not! I was THRILLED to know, YES! This was the site of the Vietnam Mailbag presentation :). Nancy Lynch came up to the podium and explained the details of this project:

She introduced the fact that the Delaware Humanities, founded in 1973, funded this project (Thank you Ms. Lynch!)

From Delaware, 800 troops were in Vietnam, and she made it her mission to create Vietnam Mailbag, based on her ongoing column called “Nancy’s Vietnam Mailbag” newspaper column- collecting conversations and letters and mentioned in 1972, she had over 1000 letters in 5 years from troops.

She was motivated to follow up and ion December 18, 1972, put these letters in a book to honor the troops. In 2008, this book was released, and she mentioned countless names from Millsboro that were in the Vietnam conflict. Names such as : Robert Dowdy, William E Jones, and James E Holden, to name a FEW.

Next up to the podium was Rick Lovekin – and I have to say, he chose to NOT use the microphone, and unfortunately, I was at the VERY back of a packed room, so what I heard was minimal. But what I heard was astounding just the same.

He is fromThe Vietnam Veterans of America’s Delaware State Council, Chapter 83. He was a Huey helicopter pilot, and didn’t graduate high school at first and then went back in ’68 to graduate. He was only 20 years old in the slides he showed and he mentioned the song, “We are the Champions” was the way they felt THEN during the time those slides depicted. He mentioned the 9 foot statue in Delaware that commemorates 166 Delawareans – and empty spots exist there due to some unknown names still not known / found that served.

The ceremony ended with all singing “God Bless America”, a wreath was placed, and the anthems for all the military branches were played and asked to stand if they served in a particular branch. A closing prayer was said, and TAPS was played. It was stunning.

Overall, when anyone wants to ask what the Delaware Humanities are, it is easy to see the Delaware Humanities is an open book to origin stories. Stories and histories that define the human experience on the widest spectrum possible, and it was an honor to be part of the Veteran’s Day Celebration that occurred today.

I think by challenging ourselves to experience celebrations that we could too often easily take for granted, and doing things out of the ordinary, help fully appreciate the meanings of such special events. The American Legion Post 28 was amazingly accommodating, friendly, open, and simply a pleasurable experience. (The cheeseburger and fries were pretty darn good too!)