He supported Scottsdale so well and has a very distinguishing long career.
He enlisted in the army in 1965 and he flew armed helicopter missions in
Vietnam and then he's also served the folks in Arizona for more than two
decades. Rising through the ranks of the Arizona National Guard, Become
the adage in general in 1998. Please welcome our friend, Major General
David P ratchet. Thank
you. Thank you.
Well, you've heard everybody talking about what a special pleasure it is
to be here today. And it is for me also, you know, I'm not, I'm excited
about my retirement and congressman, thank you for those kind words and
and governor, thank you for the opportunity to serve you in this great
state. But between the mayor and the congressman and the governor and
senator wearing sitting out here, I can't think of four people who have
done more for our veterans in this state in the last several years, then
these four people and it's really an honor for me to be here with all of
them my last time in one place. And I want to say it all four of you,
thank you so much. Okay,
And I think you're all familiar with the Montgomery G. I. Bill and what
it's done for our veterans over the years and their opportunity for
education and to help offset the rising cost of education. Congressman
Mitchell was
a little meek and he's talking about the G. I. Bill, but it is an
extraordinary, significant thing and, and I personally think they ought to
call the new G. I. Bill of the 21st century. The harry Mitchell G. I. Bill
and honor view because of how you spearhead of this and what it's gonna do
for this generation of G. I. S into the future and how that's going to
impact our country as we go on to the next decades with individuals that
are able to come back from war and get an education that they couldn't
otherwise afford. Thank you so much for doing that.
But we do gather today to honor and thank the men and women who have one
warned this nation's uniform, whether they serve in time of war or peace.
Americans veterans all share a common bond, their unwavering belief in
the cause of freedom, a belief so strong they were willing to give their
lives if need be in his defense. Their stories are the story of our
history because America rose to greatness on their shoulders, we owe them
our very way of life our freedom to live, work and raise our families as
we please. Veterans are this nation's unsung heroes in peacetime.
Especially, it is easy to forget that these men and women are on duty and
lonely outpost around the world. Even today, only seven years removed from
the brutal attacks of September 11, 2001 many in our community forget the
wars going on in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our veterans have missed the births
of their Children wedding anniversaries and graduations. They have spent
holidays in soggy rice patties in Vietnam amid the stinging sands of the
Iraqi desert in the cold and rugged mountains of Afghanistan and eastern
europe. Not every veteran has seen combat of course. But even in peacetime
, they face dangers that most other americans never know hazardous
nighttime training missions, rescuing crew members from downed aircraft or
providing relief supplies after a natural disaster all come with risk what
they have important jobs to do. And thank goodness. We have always had
young men and women ready to do them. Our veterans are living examples of
what it means to be good citizens. They have given us a lifetime of
service and the country has been enriched by the contributions, both in
and out of uniform. As general Patton said, wars may be fought by weapons
, but they are won by men and I would add, today's world women, the legacy
of americans Veterans is a proud and honorable one. No matter where or
when they served our nation's armed forces acted honorably and decently
liberating countries from the hands of brutal dictators. This tradition
continues in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now our uniformed forces continue to
help build roads and bridges, utility systems, schools and hospitals so
these countries can begin to establish their own democratic governments.
American veterans can look around the globe and proudly survey the
results of their shared sacrifice. Hundreds of emerging and established
democracies where the citizens now I live in freedom to all veterans, we
say, thank you, thanks for your sacrifice for your sense of duty and for
your service mayor. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Okay,
thanks. Okay. Yeah, yeah,
Okay. We have another very interesting individual member of our community
, a longtime member of Scottsdale's community and I don't know if you all
know him, but I know many of you probably do know his name is Gil Gifford
and he kind of affectionately call them our bugler because that's what he
does in Scottsdale, but And he's been playing the taps for events and a
lot of locations and a lot of times for the last 60 years actually. Um,
and always on Memorial Day and veteran's Day and sometimes he has to go
from one event to another to help folks out. And today we're gonna let Gil
come up. We've known Gil, I'm so glad that you could be here with us today
to come up and give us a very short history of taps. Tell us a little bit
about it, where it came from, why we do it, why it's played at military
services and later on you'll get to hear him play taps later in the
program. But before he speaks, I want to just take 90 seconds here because
this is my opportunity to do something that I think we need to do for Mr
Gifford And I have a very short proclamation for him. Whereas Gil Gifford
jr arrived in Scottsdale in 1973 to become the executive director of the
boys club of our Great City. Now the boys and girls club, Gil spent more
than 30 years prior to that managing boys clubs in Massachusetts and in
Palm Springs in whittier California. And whereas Gil graduated from
Emerson College in boston with a degree in public speaking and you'll
understand that in a moment when you hear him speak, He's also been an
auctioneer at various charitable events over the past 35 years, helping to
raise many thousands of dollars for local charities. And whereas Gil has
hurt, you can probably hear his voice and you'll recognize it from
announcing major league baseball games, golf tournaments, Marathons,
Special Olympics, the Parada del sole and many other events. And whereas
Gil was the 2002 recipient of the Scottsdale History Makers Award for
helping to make our great community what it is today And whereas Gil has
been playing the military bugle for many years, as I said, 60, including
the US Army band in Europe, he plays it on memorial Day and veteran's day
and all over the valley of the Sun. So now, therefore, I Merryman ross,
mayor of the city of Scottsdale, Arizona do hereby proclaim Gil Gifford as
Scottsdale's official bugler Bigler B U G L. E. R.
I'm gonna let him say it On Veterans Day, November 11, 2000 and come on up
here
diggler got it, you are so delightful, wow! Well, that's because I just
gave him a proclamation. That's very nice. Really. Get to toot my own horn
here too.
Hey everybody, I never get this thrill. This opportunity usually amount in
the back 40 out there. You never see me. All you do is hear me play this
beautiful horn here. This one, by the way, no valves or anything. It was
designed for use at the Arlington National Cemetery and I came across this
one many years ago and that's the one you will hear later on today. Yeah,
I thought what I would do today since I've been playing the bugle for 60
years is to answer some of the questions that people ask of a bugler, like
how did tap start, Why do we call it taps?
Are there words to taps? Yes. So there are first of all how it all began
going back to the Civil War. A Colonel dan butterfield on the side of the
north. Now, this is not a very glamorous story by the way, some of you may
know of some very glamorous stories, but they're wrong. And I will tell
you why they are wrong in a few moments. But dan butterfield didn't like
the way taps sounded, It was actually called lights out or extinguish
lights at that time. And so he rewrote them. He had a few problems. He
called over the bugler a guy named Oliver Norton and they worked it out
and that evening it was played as the final call of the evening for that
particular group. Well it caught on like wildfire and went throughout the
the armies on both sides. And of course we still play it to this very day
at that time. It was to say good night. Now of course we use it to say
goodnight and also goodbye.
Now, how do I know this was the story? How do I know that? While I checked
with a couple of big sources, one Arlington National Cemetery and they
said the story I just told you is the way it was.
I also checked with the U. S. Marines.
And if the marines say this is the story and I have learned by being a
member of the U. S. Army for many years. Sometimes making some serious
mistakes of doubting a marine
that if they say this is the gospel, this is the gospel.
Mhm. Thank you dad. I didn't know you were with us today. Mhm. So why do
we call the taps and not lights out a good night? Well back in those days
a drummer would go down or up the street throughout the area and tap the
drum tap, tap tap tap, tap tap tap. This was the signal to go to bed. But
there was another tapping that I liked even better the bartenders, those
wonderful people, you're looking at me with a puzzled look there, how
could a bartender have anything to do with taps? You wonder you ask?
Here's the skinny, the bartenders when it was time for the troops to leave
the bars and go back to their, wherever they were staying would tap the
beer kegs. Oh no, no beer, no party, no fun. Let's go back to bed. Oh
now marines didn't tell me that story, but I figure that one out myself.
The next area. Are there words to taps? Yes, there are very beautiful
words. And for those of you who have been in summer calves, you may
remember gathering around the campfire as a group holding hands and
singing the words to taps and off the bed. You would go and taps would be
played on the bugle.
The words have so much meeting. I don't know where they came from, but
they are beautiful. So what I would like to do here, I'm going to have
sing those words and for those of you can remember your last military
funeral you went to and taps was played. Think about what you were
thinking. It sends chills from one end of your body to the other. Here are
the words day is done, gone, the sun from the hills from the lakes and
from the sky all is well now safely rest God's night. Thank you veterans.
You are the greatest.
That's right
now. You know why I gave him that proclamation. That's terrific. Thank you
so much gil. It's really great to have you on our program this year. Now
we have another wonderful person that's with us today for the first time.
I believe that since we've been doing this program and its commander fred
marble, he is with the buffalo soldiers and commander Marable and his wife
, Private Michelle London Maribel. In 2007 they founded the buffalo
soldiers of the Arizona territory. The ladies and gentlemen of the
regiment headquarters in Mesa Arizona and the commander. It's so great
that he can be with us today because he's gonna share us with us. A little
brief history of buffalo soldiers and the influence and the impact of the
afro american community um, on our country. Please come back. Thank you
Buffalo soldiers up to it. Yeah, Yeah.
So
ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor and it is a privilege to be here in
your presence today to represent people. They come out of attorney out of
a pass
to be known as buffalo soldiers.
I have the privilege to represent two of amazing black gentlemen. First
Lieutenant john hancock alexander. He was the 1st, 2nd black lieutenant to
graduate from West Point. And the third gentleman to graduate from West
Point was Charles young Colonel Charles young and we as representing the
buffalo soldiers today would like to salute you each and every one of you
, From the veterans to the citizens to the councilman, to the governor, to
the mayor to the gentleman. We salute you Buffalo soldiers
fritz. Said who
hold up here
to give you a little brief history. I'm not going to take up a lot of time
because I know you're tired of sitting in those hard seats because my
seats began to get hard
and the gentleman there with the trump and he said, well it's your turn. I
said well if I can get up out of their kind of glued a little bit. But
ladies and gentlemen, I just want to take you just a little taste back
through time about the buffalo soldiers. I'm not gonna go into the dates
or anything. I'm just gonna tell you about what took place a little bit.
If you go back into time, let's go back back to when the black man was in
slavery and the civil war was going on and he asked, I need to be free,
how can I get free? The old master told him and said, well you go and you
go into the military will set you free. Okay? But at the same time we had
ladies, they were there and some of the things what they did also there
were there were slaves during the time of the Civil War period. If you
didn't know, they said the C. I. A. Just just started only a few years
back. No, it didn't, it started way back. These slaves went back into
slavery, enter tyranny back into the old masters whip, Being beaten down,
down to the ground, taking all the garbage that was thrown down to them to
bring back to the north a message of what was going on. The old slave
master thought because the black man in the black lady stood around the
dinner table and didn't know anything what they were talking about. When
they brought the old maps out in the south and said, well we're going to
engage on the north here, we're going to engage in the north there. They
took these messages back to the north and today. This is why we are
sitting here free people and being able to do what we're doing right here
and now these slaves took on a lot upon their shoulders and upon their
backs
they looked forward to the future, but there was no future that they could
look forward to. So they were inducted into the military and when they
were inducted until the military, they found out they had something very
extraordinary.
And after they got out of the military, they formed these units. The ninth
, 10th, 24th and 25th, the ninth and the 10th Cavalry, 24th and 25th
Infantry. They set them out on a journey and this journey was basically
for no return. Well, once they got out there, they found out that this man
was a fighting man. He was a fighting machine. He fought off the Indians.
The Indians said, Oh my God, what did you find this man that he stepped
down off his horse and fought them toe to toe. This was the 10th cavalry.
This is where they got their name. The Buffalo soldiers from. Because
they fought so hard and so diligently against the Indians to protect the
settlers. They came from the, from the, from the east to the west. They
protected the gold mines. They protected telegraph lines, they protected
all that were out here in the west. They protected the settlers as they
built their settlements around. They, they build outpost which became
small towns later on. But still one thing that they still suffered and
today is getting better. They still suffered segregation. They weren't
allowed to come into the towns, They weren't allowed to celebrate. They
had to just sing among themselves outside of the towns. But these
gentlemen and ladies that you see stand over before you now they represent
those folks. If you get a chance, please go by and talk with them, find
out who they represent. They represent some of the finest black ladies.
There's one over there stands was the first black lady that was in the
military. They didn't even know that she was a lady. Her name was Kathy
Williams and there are many more. The first black school teacher, the
first black uh doctor that stands the front part of the first nursed. It
stands over there. There's so much that we've done for this country that
the buffalo soldiers fought and dead. He shed his blood upon this earth.
And just to give you a last point of view in this great state of Arizona
that we stand up on today, that our feet set up on this ground. The
buffalo soldier came out of new Orleans, Louisiana and he went around the
rim and come into Arizona a 500 mile tour, a tour that he mapped out these
roles that you ride upon today and all the things that he did to sweat and
tears and the pain that he went through. Mhm. He shed his blood for a
country that he believes in. He gave everything for a country that he
believes in today. He still believes in that as the spirit carries on and
we're gonna take the spirit as high and as far as we can take it. And as I
served in Vietnam, I gave my all in all and I'll always respect the flag
that flies above our country. Oh my God, bless America and all of you. Mhm.
Yes.
Mhm. Okay. Thank you commander. Wasn't that a treat? It's just such a
wonderful day. Yes. Okay. We have
another really important individual that we'd like you to hear from today
who is a really relatively new friend of mine. I've only known him for a
couple of years now and his name's Howard lian and Howard is the founder
of the Arizona division of sentinels of freedom. It's an organization
called sentinels of Freedom. Don't forget that name. Private nonprofit
foundation and it provides scholarships and support an enormous amount of
support to members of the armed services who have been seriously injured
in the line of duty. They include things such as rent free housing,
medical assistance and that can be very, very significant. As you can
imagine, educational opportunities, financial, personal mentoring, career
placement assistance and training for whatever career that those soldiers
would like to pursue. Mr Lian said that he was prompted at least partially
by remembering what happened after Vietnam. A lot of us recall how are
soldiers were treated when they came back to America and he wanted to help
support those that we all see coming back now from the wars that were
involved with around the world and as a congressman said, and so many
others said we need to be there for them. I mean, we need to be there and
give them our very, very best. Um and that's why we're so grateful for
folks like Howard. So I thought it would be great to have him come and
share with you about sending us to freedom and why I think it's so
important for all of us. Thank you. Yeah, thank you.
Yeah,
thank you very much. And thank you mary mayor man Ross and MS Cutler and
Governor napolitano congressman Mitchell, Major General Riad, a chair, Mr
Clifford Commander marble City council members
now. It's an honor to be here today and be able to visit to you with you a
day of recognition of our millions of military veterans
as we all know. None of us would be here sitting today, were it not for
the sacrifices made by our veterans over the years? It's even more notable
to recognize the incredible weeks that have preceded this presentation
today. I think you all agree that the things that have gone on
economically and in our elections have been absolutely remarkable. Our
country continues to be a free country because of the dedication of our
volunteers. By the way, I've got a special thanks for congressman Mitchell
when it was announced that congress would be receiving a pay raise.
Congressman Mitchell was the first raised his hand and object to the rays
and decided to send a donation each month to military related
organizations. Each month, sentinels of freedom receives a check from
congressman Mitchell and it's very much appreciated.
Thank you to Mary Mayor Man Ross for helping bring the efforts of
sentinels for freedom to the attention of our Scottsdale residents today.
It's estimated that there are close to 500
volunteer organizations that have been formed to assist our veterans in a
variety of ways. I have to believe that all of the organizations have been
formed with the absolute best intentions in mind. It's an example of how
we as a community can come together and assist our heroes after all, isn't
it really the obligation of the community to take care of the people who
have given their time and they're all in their lives to protect us. I
represent a grassroots organization named Sentinels of Freedom. We're a
national organization headquartered in san Ramon California, formed in
2000 and four as a scholarship organization to assist the most permanently
wounded soldiers were now a national organization With almost two dozen
established chapters. Sentinels of Freedom was formed when a gentleman
named Mike Conklin, our president had served, had three sons serving in
Iraq as our army rangers. one of the sons was wounded in battle and had to
come home for recovery and rehabilitation. His father Mike recognize the
needs that confronted his son and felt that the community of SAn Ramon
could step up and do a lot more to help there daughters and sons that were
coming back from Iraq in similar situations from that concept, sentinels
of Freedom was formed where a life scholarship organization providing
housing furnishings, a vehicle when necessary and mentoring to our
selected soldiers. The cause is designed designed to give a hand up, not a
handout two Deserving Selected Men & Women. Our local team is made up of
all walks of life. I've got attorneys, doctors, accountants, financial
planners, realtors, men and women from my office that are doing their very
best to help our selected soldiers. Our mission is to help our soldiers
achieve the education and rehabilitation goals that are their dreams. We
work with them and that we work with the appropriate organizations such as
the veteran's administration so that our candidates can achieve the
maximum benefits that they're entitled to. With that said, we're not a
political organization, We're not pro war, We're not against war. We're
not critical of the organizations that were formed to assist our wounded
soldiers were here to deal with the results and help our soldiers as much
as possible for further information on how you can help. I've provided a
hand out to you. There's uh brochures similar to this that you've got on
your seat. We've got more up here for your review. We've got a website
called www. Sentinels of Freedom Az dot org. Thank you for all the support
you have demonstrated today for our veterans. America is the greatest
country on earth because of their sacrifices. God bless them. And God
bless America. Thank you.
Mhm.Thanks