Borough Beeswax: Buzzing About Veterans Day

Nov. 11 marked Veterans Day. Borough Beeswax took to the streets to learn how Collingswood remembers its brothers in arms on the day given over to their memory.

Helen Rubano, proprietor of , said watching The Pacific on HBO the other day really drove home the significance of Veterans Day for her.

“Very young men were thrown into that to make the ultimate sacrifice,” she said. “Whether you agree with the actions of this military or not, [Veterans Day] should be honored and respected.”

Rubano is married to a U.S. Air Force veteran whose father was a colonel. Her husband's six siblings also served in the military, which makes him more reflective around the holiday, she said.

“It makes you value life every day and the relationships and the freedom you have,” Rubano said. “The families that are left behind are also giving up a lot. I have seen very young women at Arlington National Cemetary.”

Like Rubano, Francesca Ellis of Ellis Antiques, said that a recent television program on the Vietnam War, refreshed in her mind the way that conflict changes the complexion of the country.

“It brought things back to me,” Ellis said. “People were telling their experiences and it was sad. It really got to me how ridiculous that war was.”

Ellis said she was further reminded of Vietnam when her sons came of age to register for Selective Service. She says the Occupy Wall Street protest movements have come the closest to recapturing that feeling of civil unrest in America.

“If you think about it, it’s the first time we’ve seen civil protests like that,” she said.

Mike and Sandy Payne of Woodlawn Avenue hang up their flag every year on Veterans Day not least of all in commemoration of their son Michael’s 11-year USAF career.

“It makes you feel proud and appreciative of what they did,” Sandy Payne said.

Mike Payne said that he hopes people take “a moment or several moments of thought” in gratitude for the sacrifices of American service personnel, “instead of thinking, ‘I’m not going to get my mail today,’” he says.

Jason Trautz of E. Homestead Avenue said that reflection is appropriate and necessary, lest the significance of Veterans Day “be lost on the masses.”

“The place it most needs to be celebrated is in school,” he said, so that educators can impart the significance of the holiday on students.

Trautz, whose business partner is a veteran, says that he feels that many military personnel are not supported enough by institutions like the VA after their careers end.

“It’s a shame,” he says. “There’s kind of an understanding that you’re doing this for your country, that your country has a promise for you, and I don’t think that promise gets cashed in.”

One way in which veterans deserve greater assistance, Trautz said, is for the emotional trauma they may have endured in active duty. He described his friend’s mental state as “really wacky” upon returning home from his tour of duty in Iraq.

“All you can be is supportive,” he said.