Thirty years ago this past Saturday. One hundred years ago this past Sunday. One hundred years ago this past Monday. One hundred and ones ago this past Monday. Four anniversaries noted in three days. Many readers of this column were probably cognizant of three of the anniversaries, the fourth is less well known.

On Nov. 9, 1989, (30 years ago) the Berlin Wall separating West Germany and East Germany was torn down. The commemoration ceremony was attended by representatives from Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. News outlets showed pictures of people leaving flowers at a portion of the wall that still stands. Earlier there was the unveiling of a bronze statue of Ronald Reagan nearby to where he gave his Berlin Wall Speech on June 12, 1987 – a little over two years before the wall actually came down even though remembering his phrase, “…Mr. Gorbachev: Tear Down This Wall.” seems in my memory to be within seconds of the actual tearing down – memory is a tricky thing.

Looking back at the actual history, President Reagan was not a dearly beloved person to many Germans when he gave his speech. The day before Reagan’s Berlin Wall Speech, there were protests of possibly as many as 50,000 people against his Berlin visit. He was thought by some to be somewhat of a warmongering person. Germans were not thrilled by the American Social System.

Further back in memory to June 26 1963, many readers likely remember when President Kennedy two years after the construction of the Berlin Wall was a bit more beloved when he spoke in Berlin, saying, “Ich bin ein Berliner.”

President Donald Trump on the 30th anniversary of the tearing down of the wall issued a statement quoted in the Minneapolis Star Tribune honoring, “…courageous men and women from both East and West Germany united to tear down a wall that stood as a symbol of oppression and failed socialism for more than a quarter of a century.” cf. The Mexican Border Wall.

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Skipping over the Sunday anniversary and going to the last two of the four anniversaries that are at the beginning of this column, both refer to Veterans Day or its predecessor, Armistice Day.

For shorthand, many think of Armistice Day as the end of the First World War when actually the first Armistice Day was in 1919 (by Proclamation of Pres. Woodrow Wilson) which was exactly one year after the end of WWI often remembered as the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, hence the 101st anniversary of the end of WWI. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for establishing Armistice Day and then in 1938 established Armistice Day as a national holiday.

After WWII, in 1954, President Eisenhower changed the name to Veterans Day to honor all Veterans. Of the 16 million who served during WWII, there are now fewer than 500,000 still living.

Veterans Day is generally associated with honoring living Veterans versus Memorial Day that honors all Veterans, past and present. In 1968, the Uniform Holiday Bill moved the date to the fourth Monday of October effective in 1971, but in 1975, Pres. Gerald Ford moved it back to Nov. 11 effective as of 1978. The Nov. 11 date has been Veterans Day since that time.

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That leaves the 100th Anniversary celebrated on Nov. 10 – the founding date of the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) in 1919. The American Legion was founded in March of 1919 so the ALA was founded just a couple of months later. Those dates contrast with the founding of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1899 with its Auxiliary not founded until 15 years later in 1914.

In 2015 the VFW Auxiliary began accepting males. The ALA just this year began accepting males.

Though I am not eligible for either the VFW or American Legion nor their Auxiliary organizations, my wife through her father and her first husband is eligible for both Auxiliaries and has been a member of both for a number of years – her father serving in WWI and her first husband serving in WWII. My father was too young for WWI just turning 17 when it ended and too old (40+) and with three kids when WWII began.

Both of the Auxiliaries fall in the general category of being U.S. service clubs where the service is given by members to care for and support our veterans, their families, and the military in general.

I was intrigued by the large number of service clubs started in the U.S. but designed to help people in the entire world and with world wide membership – many having been founded about the same time as the VFW and American Legion: Rotary International (1905), Kiwanis International (1915), Lions Clubs International (1917), Optimists (1919) and others.

Rotarian’s motto is Service Above Self – note the similarity of the motto of the ALA: Service Not Self.

Until next time: Oh, Fiddlesticks!