Veteran's Day, 11/11


Veteran’s Day is a special day always on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, November 11th.  This day is set aside to remember all of the veterans of our nation that put their lives on the line to ensure that we, the American people, were safe and to make sure that no one would threaten our Democracy.  Veterans include men and women from many branches of the armed forces, such as the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force, the Coast Guard, and the Marine Corps.  These veterans lived very hard lives during wars, especially during World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the Iraqi War, and now the War on Terror.  Many of the veterans were away from their friends and family for long periods of time, not knowing if they would make it home alive to see their loved ones.  The conditions that these veterans were once in were terrible.  Not being able to shower for long periods of time and not eating a hot meal for weeks were some of the things that they had to go through.  This is why many schools and other organizations conduct canned food drives and collect supplies (as well as playing cards, for these soldiers overseas to make them remember what they are fighting for back at home.  So whenever you see a bumper sticker while driving on the road that says “Vietnam Vet,” give them a smile through the window or if you see a veteran wearing a hat that says “Korean War Vet,” thank them for their service and everything that they have done for this country.

Vocabulary Words
Democracy (noun) – a system of government where the people vote and have a direct say in the government
Armed Forces (noun) - a country’s military forces that fight in wars
World War I (noun) – a war fought from 1914-1918 between the allied powers (Britain, France, Russia, US) and the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire) caused by militarism, alliances, nationalism, and imperialism.
World War II (noun) – a war fought from 1939-1945 between the allied powers (Britain, France, Russia, US) and the axis powers (German, Italy, Japan) caused by Germany’s over-ambition of growing their state and the rise of Fascism and Nazism.
Vietnam War (noun) – a surrogate war fought within the Cold War; a war to contain Communism
Korean War (noun) – another surrogate war fought within the Cold war; a war to contain Communism
Iraqi War (noun) – a war started in 2003 between Iraq and the United States to protect the US’ interests in the Middle East
War on Terror (noun) – A war launched in reaction to 9/11 to eliminate terrorism around the world
Organizations (noun) – an organized group of people with the same outlook/goal/purpose
Canned food drives (noun) – a form of charity conducted by a group of people to give back to the community to help out the less fortunate

Vocabulary Activity: Alphabetical Order and Chronological Order
Your task is to put the above vocabulary words in alphabetical order.  This means that you need to look at the first letter of every word and see which letter comes first (A…B…C…).  Once you are complete with that, research each of the six wars mentioned, and put the wars in chronological order, meaning which war happened first, second…

Grammar Point: Past tense
This paragraph was written in the past tense, meaning that all of these events I discussed had already happened.  To make a verb be in the past tense, you usually add –ed to the word.  For example, serves (in the present tense) becomes served, as in “The soldier served in the Vietnam War.”  Create five sentences of your own in the past tense.

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