Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Remember veterans with a paid holiday

By JEFF WEBB
Published November 10, 2006

Reader warning: If the comments that follow sound familiar, there is good reason. The words change from year to year, but the message does not. And as long as the Times gives me space on this page, or until some determined lawmaker makes the dream a reality, I intend to dedicate one column a year to this adopted cause.

But if it's your first time, I beg you to stay and open your mind to an idea that needs your help.

Veterans Day, which is always Nov. 11, is being observed by some today because the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" falls on Saturday this year.

But only a fraction of the 1,788,496 veterans in Florida - second most in the nation - will derive any tangible benefit from this federal holiday. More specifically, only those who work for the government or a bank will enjoy the benefit of a paid holiday today.

That is a slight to the vast majority of veterans in the private sector. Veterans Day should be a paid holiday for every person who was honorably discharged from the U.S. military. Period. And it is time for veterans organizations to use their considerable clout with lawmakers to make that happen.

The Nature Coast is a great place to start this movement because of the high concentration of veterans: 23,752 in Hernando, 52,499 in Pasco and 22,758 in Citrus, at last count.

Verifying eligible veterans would be relatively simple: Require job applicants to declare if they are veterans. Before being hired, they must produce proof of their discharge, typically Department of Defense Form 214.

If that requirement is met, the employer would be obliged by law to give the veteran the option of taking a paid day off on Nov. 11.

No ifs, ands or buts. Give vets the day off because they have earned a material appreciation for serving their country.

Sure, it would cost the boss a few bucks to cover for a veteran's absence, but what employer wouldn't pay gladly at the risk of seeming unappreciative or unpatriotic?

If Veterans Day merits shutting down government buildings, post offices and schools, then it should merit giving the people who took an active role in defending those institutions a one-day break once a year.

Politicians trip over themselves to wave the flag and thank service members, present and past, for their patriotism. President Bush, in his declaration of Veterans Day 2006, said, "All of American's veterans have placed our nation's security before their own lives, creating a debt that we can never fully repay. Our veterans represent the best of America, and they deserve the best America can give them."

Similar accolades will be voiced at parades and color guard ceremonies today and Saturday. I'm sure the veterans who are able to attend will appreciate hearing those eloquent words.

But I'll wager that the majority who must work on Veterans Day would prefer that politicians spike their praise with a promise to give vets something more concrete and lasting.

For the past two years I have issued a generic plea for legislators to support this idea. Still haven't heard a word. So, this year, I'm naming names:

How about it, state Sens. Mike Fasano and Paula Dockery? What say you, state Reps. Charlie Dean and soon-to-be Robert Schenck? Any thoughts on this subject, U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite?

This much I know: These legislators will need to hear from a bunch of people besides me before they will even consider researching the issue. If you want them to pursue the idea, tell them so (and feel free to send a copy to me):

Sen Paula Dockery, 101 W Main St., Suite 110, Lakeland, FL 33815; (863) 413-2900, toll-free 1-866-248-6487; e-mail dockery. paula.web@flsenate.gov.

Rep Charlie Dean, 101 Zephyr St., Inverness, FL 34450; (352) 860-5160; e-mail dean.charles@myflorida house.com.

Rep. Robert Schenck (after Nov. 14), 12511 Spring Hill Drive, Spring Hill, FL 34609. (352) 688-5004; e-mail schenck.rob@my floridahouse.com.

U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, 20 N Main St., Room 200, Brooksville, FL 34601, (352) 799-8354; Web site: www.house.gov/brown-waite.

Maybe the Nature Coast can set an example for the rest of Florida, and then Florida for the rest of the nation.

And no matter what else you do today, find at least one veteran and thank him or her for answering, whether in a time of war or peace, the nation's call to duty.

Jeff Webb is a Vietnam-era veteran. Reach him at webb@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6123.

[Last modified November 9, 2006, 22:58:20]