fandomhigh | Speech, Tuesday, November 10, 2015

"Tomorrow is a pretty important day in a lot of different places," Josh said. "Here in the US, we call it Veterans Day, but around the world it's known as Remembrance Day or Armistace Day, and it commemorates the end of World War I on November 11, 1911, at 11:11 in the morning because if you've already got a theme, go for the whooooole theme. Anyway, it's a time to remember people who have fought in combat zones. And sometimes people get confused about what counts as a veterans as opposed to a member of the military, and get it confused with Memorial Day, which is set aside to remember everyone who died, in particular. This is to say thank you to those who are still with us, and also to remember those who aren't. So naturally, there are speeches."

He took a sip from his coffee. "I want you to give me a speech about a veteran you either know or have looked up information about, and explain why it's important to remember them even after they are out of the military. And maybe, just maybe, fund their medical expenses and potential mental health issues and make sure they have a job and stuff."

Not that Josh had opinions. Cough. "Anyway, you have the first half of the period to research and the second to wow me with you words. Go."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Patriotically.

Talk about brothers, cousins, grandparents, uncles, yourself...whatever!

He knows the band of brothers speech out of Shakespeare, so don't try it.

It's what he lives for, let's be honest.

Gah, it's hot here today.

Kathy Li

"My family has fought no wars for America," Kathy said slowly. "I am the first generation to be born here; the first member of my family to be a citizen by birth rather than naturalization. I stand here knowing that even if war breaks out tomorrow, my age and my sex will keep me safe from the battlefield." She took a deep breath. "But this does not make me any less a patriot, or any less American. My family has known fighting, known war. My grandfather was maimed by Japanese soldiers in World War II, my great-uncles fought side by side with American soldiers during the Korean War. It was stories of the bravery of those men who came to keep South Korea free from the aggression of North Korea's military and government that eventually led my parents to emigrate from Seoul and settle here, in the land of the free and home of the brave."

"But what keeps America free? Who are the brave who make their home here? Often times, both questions have the same answer: the heroic men and women who risk their lives day after day after day after dusty day, knowing that they may be called upon at any time to give their last breath for our defense far from the home they fight so fiercely for. And when they die, they're hailed as heroes, sent home in somber boxes that act as a heavy reminder of the cost of our many freedoms."

"It is easy to look at those coffins and think solemn thoughts, to remember to appreciate their service and their sacrifice. But the dead are beyond our hope--it's the living that we forget to honor. The dead are places in graves and watered with tears, the living are left to lie where they fall, forgotten and ignored, their cries for help and their pleas for memory landing on deaf ears as we pass them by in gutters, in alleys, in hospitals, and at home, where darkened windows and ratty lawns are the only indications that something isn't right. These are the heroes that need our remembrance, our speeches, our help; not those who are past all of that. They have given their youth, their bodies, sometimes even their minds and yet we do so little for them. Why is that? Why should a dead hero be worth more to our collective consciousness than a living soldier? No, he has has not paid the ultimate price, but she keeps paying day after day after bloody day, trying to claw their way out of the abyss that keeps pulling them under."

"Dying is easy. Everybody does it, eventually. Living, though, living is so much harder. It's taking the next footstep when your whole body wants to lay down and rest. It's greeting the new day when all you want is oblivion. It's the daily grind that most of us don't even comprehend when we're complaining about our deadlines, our commutes, our lattes that are too cold and our beers that are too warm. So tomorrow, rather than just pinning a red poppy or waving a striped flag, take a moment and really think about what it is you're honoring. And take a minute--not just to thank a vet with empty words you won't remember past the time it takes you to say them. Do something. Let their actions inspire yours. Give. Help. Share. Prove that you value a living vet over a fallen soldier. Who knows--you might even save someone."

With another deep and shuddery inhale, Kathy quickly sat down again, clasping her hands together to keep them from visibly shaking. She'd ignored half of the assignment--her speech wasn't about anyone in particular--but it had seemed silly to talk about one person when her whole speech had been about the faceless, overlooked many.

Garik Loran

Speech, Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Sign in 11/10

Research

Speech, speech!

Talk to Josh!

OOC

Re: Sign in 11/10

Re: Speech, speech!

Re: Sign in 11/10