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VOA慢速英语2013 美国庆祝退伍军人节

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America Celebrates Veterans Day 美国庆祝退伍军人节

Welcome to This Is America from VOA Learning English. I’m Jim Tedder1.

And I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

November 11 is Veterans Day in the United States. A veteran is anyone who has served in the armed forces. Veterans Day honors the living. A separate holiday, Memorial  Day in May, honors those who died in military service.

This week on our program, we talk about Veterans Day. We also tell you about a group of women veterans who played a special part in American military history.

The United States has about 22 million veterans. The term "veteran" is not just for those who have served in wars. It describes anyone who has ever been in the  military.

On November 11, communities hold ceremonies and parades to observe Veterans Day.  Military bands play. The president and other public officials take part in the  events. And soldiers fire guns into the air in a salute2 to remember those who died in service to their country. 

The history of Veterans Day relates to World War I. Many people at the time called it “the war to end all wars.”

The United States entered the fighting in Europe in 1917.  But the United States armed forces were small. So the government began to draft men between the ages of 21  and 31.

The men came from cities and farms. Some were rich. Others were poor. There were doctors, lawyers, businessmen, professional athletes and college students.  Many were  married.

The following year, the government expanded the draft. Now it called on men between the ages of 18 and 45. More than 13 million reported for duty. 

Many women joined the armed forces, too.  Most got office jobs at military bases in the United States. Some, however, went to France to work as nurses in battlefield  hospitals.

World War I ended when Germany surrendered at 11 o'clock in the morning on November 11, 1918 – in other words, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. 

The following year, President Woodrow Wilson signed a declaration to observe November 11th as Armistice3 Day in the United States.  It would be a day to honor the men  and women who had served in the American armed forces during the war.

In 1926, Congress made Armistice Day a national holiday. 

But new problems were on the way.  Soon, everyone knew that World War I would not be the war to end all wars.

In all, more than four million Americans served in the armed forces during the First World War.  Four times that many would serve during the second.

Germany surrendered in May 1945.  Japan surrendered in August of that year.

Armistice Day in 1945 was a very special day in the United States.  Most of the men and women who had served in the war were home. 

So, instead of honoring just veterans of World War I, Americans also honored veterans of World War II.

In 1954, Congress decided4 to change the name of Armistice Day. The holiday became Veterans Day. 

Airplanes Don't Know the Difference Between Men and Women

In the 1930s and ‘40s, many people did not believe women should be permitted to join the military. Even fewer thought women should serve as pilots.

But in the early days of World War II there was a severe shortage of male pilots.

Jacqueline Cochran was a well-known female pilot in the United States at that time. She believed that training women to serve as support pilots at home could free up  men to fly combat operations overseas. 

General Hap5 Arnold was chief of what was then called the Army Air Forces. Jackie Cochran persuaded him that women were just as able to fly planes as men.

The Army Air Forces created a program called Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP6 for short. The women themselves were known as WASPs7.

They were required to take their own flying lessons before they could be admitted to the program. And they paid their own way to get to the training base in  Sweetwater, Texas. In the end, over 1,000 women became members of the group.

In 1943, 25 women were trained to fly an airplane known as the "Widowmaker." Some male pilots had refused to fly it because so many of the planes crashed during  training. Several pilots were killed.

The military believed the planes were safe if they were flown correctly. The women were asked to prove it. One of the WASP veterans is named Deanie Parrish. Her  daughter Nancy says the women pilots knew the dangers, but volunteered anyway in what she called a very important experiment.

"Airplanes don't know the difference between men and women. They only know that you're a good pilot or you're not a good pilot. And these women were all very good  pilots."

Thirty-eight women lost their lives in the WASP program. There were no military honors for these women. Their own families had to pay for their burials.

One of the pilots who died was named Mary Howson. Nancy Parrish retells the story of what Mary Howson's mother told WASP trainees8 in Texas shortly after her daughter's  death.

“'I came because I thought it was important.  It's important for you to know so you can tell your families what to expect if something happens to you.'

"She said 'I'm going to read you the telegram that I got from the United States government when Mary was killed.' And she pulled it out and she unfolded it and she  read it to this group of trainees.

"And this is what it said, 'Your daughter was killed this morning. Where do you want us to ship the body?'" 

The WASP program ended a few weeks after the last class graduated in 1944. WASP members had served their country by flying fighters, bombers9 and transport aircraft.  They trained other pilots, flew test flights and pulled targets for shooting practice. They transported planes as well as troops and supplies, including parts of the  atomic bomb.

In all, they flew more than 96 million kilometers.

For years, WASP members fought to get the recognition they had earned. Not until 1977 were the women fully10 recognized as military veterans.

In 2010, surviving members of the group received Congress' highest civilian11 honor, the Congressional Gold Medal. WASP veteran Deanie Parrish spoke12 at a ceremony held  in the United States Capitol building.

“Over 65 years ago we each served our country without any expectation of recognition or glory. And we did it without compromising the values that we were taught as we  grew up -- honor, integrity, patriotism13, service, faith and commitment.

"We did it because our country needed us. I believe I speak for every WASP when I say that it was both a privilege and an honor to serve our country during some of the  darkest days of World War II."

Fewer than 300 WASP members are still alive. More than 200 of them attended the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony. Some wore their old uniforms.

Deanie Parrish accepted the medal for the group. She said the award itself was not as important as what it represents.

"All we ever asked for is that our overlooked history would someday no longer be a missing chapter in the history World War II, in the history of the Air Force, in the  history of aviation, and most especially the history of America."

Deanie Parrish and her daughter Nancy launched the organization Wings Across America. The purpose is to educate Americans about the WASP program.

They have interviewed more than 100 of the women who served. Parts of the interviews can be seen in a video at wingsacrossamerica.org.

“They can look at us and they can hear the words coming from us: go for it. Because that’s what we did. We went for it.”

“What we did was very hush-hush. No one knew. I couldn’t even tell Mother and Daddy what I was doing.”

“We realized the danger, the danger in anything that you attempt. But there was that camaraderie14 about the love of flying that drew us together.”

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and June Simms. I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I'm Jim Tedder. You can read, download and comment on our programs at learningenglish.voanews.com.

And join us again next week for This Is America with VOA Learning English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 tedder 2833afc4f8252d8dc9f8cd73b24db55d     
n.(干草)翻晒者,翻晒机
参考例句:
  • Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆?特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
  • Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆?泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网
2 salute rYzx4     
vi.行礼,致意,问候,放礼炮;vt.向…致意,迎接,赞扬;n.招呼,敬礼,礼炮
参考例句:
  • Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
  • The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。
3 armistice ivoz9     
n.休战,停战协定
参考例句:
  • The two nations signed an armistice.两国签署了停火协议。
  • The Italian armistice is nothing but a clumsy trap.意大利的停战不过是一个笨拙的陷阱。
4 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
5 hap Ye7xE     
n.运气;v.偶然发生
参考例句:
  • Some have the hap,some stick in the gap.有的人走运, 有的人倒霉。
  • May your son be blessed by hap and happiness.愿你儿子走运幸福。
6 wasp sMczj     
n.黄蜂,蚂蜂
参考例句:
  • A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
  • Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。
7 wasps fb5b4ba79c574cee74f48a72a48c03ef     
黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 ); 胡蜂; 易动怒的人; 刻毒的人
参考例句:
  • There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
  • We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中,而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中
8 trainees 576ef87c519dfddb06b6987e1e66077f     
新兵( trainee的名词复数 ); 练习生; 接受训练的人; 训练中的动物
参考例句:
  • We've taken on our full complement of new trainees. 我们招收的新学员已经满额了。
  • The trainees were put through an assault course. 受训人员接受了突击训练课程。
9 bombers 38202cf84a1722d1f7273ea32117f60d     
n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 );投弹手;安非他明胶囊;大麻叶香烟
参考例句:
  • Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
11 civilian uqbzl     
adj.平民的,民用的,民众的
参考例句:
  • There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
  • He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。
12 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
13 patriotism 63lzt     
n.爱国精神,爱国心,爱国主义
参考例句:
  • His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
  • They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。
14 camaraderie EspzQ     
n.同志之爱,友情
参考例句:
  • The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
  • Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板,偶尔才和下属互动一下;有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。

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