1st Military Hall of Honor Dedication Ceremony
Don Geiss, Guest Speaker ~ May 30, 2005 ~ Memorial Day

I'm eighty years old.  I'm eighty years old with a wonderful wife, three great children, five fine grandchildren and I live in the greatest country in the world.  A major reason for those happy facts in my life can be attributed to the heroes included in the dedication today.  Those men and women who faced the enemy and helped keep our country free.  I am flattered to be here today to honor those individuals who helped to protect our freedom.  

It is almost impossible to put a favorable spin on war.  The one bright spot is the amazing progress that has been made in the USA despite the battles for freedom.  It may be that we are too close to the progress to recognize it or two involved in the everyday life struggles to pause and appreciate this fantastic era in which we live.  It may be impossible for us to realize that many of the twentieth century technical advances could be claimed by veterans of the many wars.  

Little is heard these days about veterans of world war one but it is certain that they adapted to changes much as those from world war two.  In the late twenties and early thirties this nation under peaceful conditions had a horrible financial crisis.  But we had motion pictures, model tees and radio.  We older folks took the newer inventions in stride.  I recall a period when my daily supper depended on what my grandfather bought home from his part time job at a butcher shop.  The men there cooked a hot meal like chili in the store.  We were able to eat the leftovers from that lunch.  My grandfather you see had lost his regular job as a tool and die maker.  At that time I certainly would never have thought my role along with millions of other citizens would be that of a freedom fighter. 

Gradually we came out of the great depression as it was called and we took in stride the big band era, more streamlined cars and by nineteen thirty eight air born man was speeding along at four hundred miles per hour.  Then along came world war two.  Everybody who wanted a job could find one because Adolph Hitler decided to start a fight.  The Japanese also got involved and then came the draft.  Thousands of peace loving American Citizens were turned into a fighting machine.  

That fighting machine needed the tools of war and so factories set up assembly lines to turn out thousands of tanks, rifles, bayonets and uniforms.  After the war the rifles turned up in the game hunters hands and as a matter of fact there are many individuals locally who have purchased the EM-1 rifle.  Those uniforms were the forerunner of various items of clothing that were needed in cold climates.  

Let us not forget the women who for perhaps the first time left the home and close guarding of the children to work in the factories.  This obviously was a major step in women's liberation.

A sad note here is about a field that became increasingly important as a result of the war.  All of the war's amputees caused an upsurge in the number of prostheses needed.  That need for artificial arms and legs and the perfection of them continues today both in to serve the more recent war wounded but also to assist those who are involved in domestic accidents.  

Even while the war was going on certain individuals were working on fantastic developments that would amaze the world. In some cases they were developing tools of war that would have tremendous application to life as we know it today.  The development of the atom bomb has had wide usage in the form of electrical power.  Certainly nuclear medicine was a remarkable step up in prolonging life.  The military transport plane was the forerunner of today's commercial models that have shrunk the distances in the world.  Let power can get us anywhere in just a few hours.  

It should be obvious by now that you world war two vets didn't just fight a war and keep our freedom.  You were the instigators of more change than the world had every seen up to that time.  It didn't stop there because the Korean War and the Vietnam War saw many new veterans who used even more sophisticated tools. 

Boots-----you know those warm in the winter types are being used by you now as winter hunting and ice fishing wear.  Manufacturers saw merit in gloves that were an offshoot of the front line types.  Those special telescopes were developed to spot the enemy but some of you use a type of them mounted on your hunting rifles. Oh! Yes yours truly and thousands of others use them as a way to see birds close up. 

Certainly we must not forget good old K-rations.  Now in service it is called MRE for meals ready to eat.  But now it has turned into dehydrated food used by back packers and kayak paddlers.  Camouflage clothing has now taken over the garment industry.  It started in war caught on as game hunting attire and now is everyday war for may individuals.  

Somewhere along the line we began looking at dolphins as part of the war effort.  We trained them to swim into explosive mines thus detonating them.  It was of course not looked upon very favorably by animal protection organizations.  The experimentation did gain favorable recognition, however when they were trained to bring tools to aquanauts and to war off sharks near swimmers.  

You veterans didn't just fight wars; you were also part of the most amazing changes in the twentieth century and believe me it is continuing through the twenty first. 

We really didn't have to be fighting wars to have veterans making a mark on the world scene.  Rockets made to fight a war developed further to send heroes to the moon.  Civilians were brought into the space exploration as specialists. Once again women came to the front as they too headed for space.  Unfortunately they have also been included in the casualty list.