Happy Thanksgiving 2024

As Jennifer Harber notes in her column at the Washington Times (where my On Crime column also appears), Thanksgiving became a permanent holiday on a fixed day under President Abraham Lincoln. 

“President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November to be regularly commemorated as Thanksgiving Day. His Thanksgiving holiday proclamation implored the nation to heal its wounds and restore peace, harmony, tranquility throughout the nation,” according to an advisory from the White House Historical Association, found at whitehousehistory.org. 

Jennifer Harper also took note of what President Ronald Reagan said in his 1981 Thanksgiving Proclamation. 

“Thanksgiving has become a day when Americans extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. Long before there was a government welfare program, this spirit of voluntary giving was ingrained in the American character. Americans have always understood that, truly, one must give in order to receive. This should be a day of giving as well as a day of thanks. 

“As we celebrate Thanksgiving in 1981, we should reflect on the full meaning of this day as we enjoy the fellowship that is so much a part of the holiday festivities. Searching our hearts, we should ask what we can do as individuals to demonstrate our gratitude to God for all He has done. Such reflection can only add to the significance of this precious day of remembrance. Let us recommit ourselves to that devotion to God and family that has played such an important role in making this a great nation, and which will be needed as a source of strength if we are to remain a great people.” 

Note: The above illustration is the late, great Norman Rockwell's Thanksgiving.  

President Reagan On Labor Day

Jennifer Harper in her Washington Times Inside the Beltway column quotes President Reagan on Labor Day. 

The date is Aug. 31, 1988. Then-President Ronald Reagan released this formal proclamation a couple of days in advance of Labor Day that year: 

“Each Labor Day, we pause as a nation to honor some of the greatest heroes of the American story. On this 94th Labor Day, I ask all Americans to join me in offering a heartfelt thanks and praise to working men and women,” he said. 

“We salute working people because they have built our land with skill, energy, and resourcefulness, transforming raw materials into a shining edifice of freedom and prosperity. On Labor Day we recognize these achievements and reflect on the meaning and dignity of work and on the values it protects and strengthens — the values we as a nation hold most dear,” Reagan noted. 

“In both peacetime and time of war, American workers have always offered each other and the world their very best, affirming their liberty as individuals and as members of a team and promoting the ideals of free enterprise and democracy here and around the globe,” he said. 

“America’s workers continue to display the spirit, ingenuity, and adaptability to new conditions that labor and employers alike need if our economy is to continue to grow. This willingness to meet every challenge speaks volumes about the health and vitality of our way of life,” the president continued. “Let us always remember that so much of what we are, we owe to working men and women. God gave us this land, but, under his good graces, the labor of our people has helped it flourish and pour forth its plenty for ourselves and the world. For all these reasons, America celebrates Labor Day, 1988."

Labor Day 2022: A Look Back At President Reagan's 1987 Labor Day Remarks

Jennifer Harper at the Washington Times quotes former President Reagan on Labor Day. 

Let’s journey back 35 years ago, almost to the day — and recall what then-President Ronald Reagan had to say about Labor Day on Sept. 7, 1987.

 

“Each year, at summer’s end, we pause to honor working men and women. Their labor, resourcefulness, and devotion to family and country have forged the freest, most prosperous nation the world has ever known. Their trades and occupations are countless, but with all their diversity they are one in commitment to the ideals of democracy and to the dream of a better life for themselves and for their children. In the pursuit of that American dream, every generation has proven anew the dignity of work and of working people,” Reagan advised in his public message for the day.

 

“Labor Day provides all of us with an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of work not simply as an economic necessity but as an expression of deeper human qualities. We can be truly grateful that God has blessed our nation with an abundance which has permitted us to produce a vast quantity of goods for people around the world. But we must always remember that of all of our resources none is more valuable or important than the American worker. We rejoice in the fact that more of our citizens are working than ever before and that we continue to be a land of hope, energy, and opportunity.

 

“On this occasion, let us also remember the freedoms and the sacrifices that have made our abundance possible. We are heirs to a precious legacy, one that has taken centuries to build, and we must forever recognize that its preservation and increase are our glad task and solemn responsibility,” Reagan said.

Three Men Who Changed The Perception Of Vietnam Veterans

A delivery man recently handed me my ordered pizza and seeing my Navy dog tag hanging from a gold chain around my neck, smiled and said, “Thank you for your service.” 

That was something my late brother Ed and I did not often hear when we returned home from the Vietnam War. 

My brother served in the U.S. Army at Chu Lai in South Vietnam, and he returned home in 1969. 

I served in the U.S. Navy on the USS Kitty Hawk as the aircraft carrier performed combat operations on “Yankee Station” off the coast of North Vietnam. I retuned home in 1971. 

In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, Vietnam veterans were portrayed mostly on TV and in films as drug addicts and homicidal maniacs. Although the vast majority of Vietnam veterans, like my brother and I, returned home from the war and adapted back into civilian life, the fictional portrayal of crazy Vietnam vets was prevalent and, sadly, many people thought it was an accurate portrayal. 

It was not. 

The negative attitude towards Vietnam veterans changed thankfully in the 1980s due to three people primarily, in my view.

One was President Ronald Reagan.

In 1980, President Reagan said, “Vietnam was, in truth, a noble cause and those who died in that cause fought as well and as bravely as any Americans have ever fought in any war. They deserve our gratitude and our continuing concern.”    

President Reagan often spoke up for Vietnam veterans, before, during and after his time as president.

The second person was actor Tom Selleck (seen in the above photo). Selleck, a fine actor and by all accounts, an intelligent and decent man, portrayed the character Thomas Magnum on the TV series Magnum, P.I.

In the series, Thomas Magnum was a former Navy SEAL and Vietnam veteran. His two best friends, TC and Rick, were former Marines. All three were well-adjusted Vietnam veterans. (Higgins, the majordomo of the Robin Master’s estate, was a well-adjusted WWII veteran).

The third person to change the perception of Vietnam veterans was Magnum, P.I.’s writer and producer, Donald Bellisario (seen in the above photo). Bellisario, a former Marine, died last year. 

You can watch Donald Bellisario discuss the portrayal of Vietnam veterans on Magnum, P.I. via the below link:

Donald Bellisario discusses the portrayal of Vietnam vets on "Magnum, P.I." - EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG - YouTube

Magnum, P.I., along with President Reagan’s frequent speeches that praised Vietnam veterans, changed the perception of the Vietnam veteran, which endures today. 

My Washington Times Review Of John Lehman's 'Oceans Ventured: Winning The Cold War At Sea'

The Washington Times published my review of John Lehman’s Oceans Ventured: Winning the Cold War at Sea.

As a young workaday Defense Department civilian employee in the mid-1970s, I watched with regret as the American military deteriorated after the end of the Vietnam War. As a Navy veteran who served on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War, I was particularly saddened to see our once-great Navy diminished greatly.

This all changed when Ronald Reagan became president in 1981. President Reagan promised to rebuild the U.S. military — in particular, a formidable 600-ship Navy — to counter the Soviet Union’s military expansion.

John Lehman, a former Navy aviator, became Mr. Reagan’s secretary of the Navy and he served from 1981 to 1987. Mr. Lehman took the helm and guided the service toward that 600-ship Navy goal, which played a significant role in leading to the winning of the Cold War and the crumpling of the “evil empire,” as Mr. Reagan once called the Soviet Union.

Looking back at that crucial time in history, Mr. Lehman has written an interesting book called “Oceans Ventured: Winning the Cold War at Sea.”

… When Ronald Reagan became president and John Lehman became Navy secretary, the United States was losing the Cold War. The Soviets were building up their military during the years we were dismantling ours. In particular, the Soviet navy was working feverishly to become the most powerful navy in the world.

President Reagan led a bipartisan effort through Congress to fund the restoration of the Navy and Mr. Lehman conducted naval exercises, beginning with “Ocean Venture 81,” sending ships and aircraft dangerously close to the Soviet Union. This effort informed the Soviets that our expanding fleet could sink their submarines and takeout Soviet bombers and missiles while simultaneously striking deep inside the Soviet Union. The exercises also showed that the fleet could operate in Arctic waters, which no navy had previously attempted.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jun/26/book-review-oceans-ventured-by-john-lehman/ 

Note: You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine Q&A with John Lehman via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2015/04/command-of-seas-my-q-with-former-navy.html