Today’s session of the GABFEST Club (Dnipro Window on America center, Ukraine) was dedicated to the U.S. Veterans Day which is celebrated on November, 11. The club members who knew the symbolism of the date explained it to the others. November 11 was the date when World War I ended.
The Gabfest club regular members told the new-comers about our American volunteers Mr. Jason and Mr. Stephen who are American veterans. The group was offered several famous quotes about the Veteran’s Day for translation (“All gave some, some gave all“, etc.) and discussion (tradition of hoisting US flags on the flagpoles in front of the buildings, traditional Veterans Day parades, tradition of having military cemeteries, etc.).
Our American volunteer Mr. Jason suggested a video for the Veteran’s day Gabfest session. It was a story about a retired US Marine veteran who lost all limbs in 2010 in Afghanistan. The soldier received a double arm transplant. John Peck is believed to be the second quadruple amputee veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan war to receive a double arm transplant, according to the Post. The hospital paid for the surgery, and the doctors volunteered their services.
The group was impressed with the story and sends greetings to Mr. Jason and Mr. Stephen for the holiday.
In the second part of the session the group listen to the presentation about the Salvation army prepared by a Ukrainian head of the mission in Dnipro. The Salvation Army is a charity with good reputation in the United States, especially due to its disaster relief efforts (the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake). American portrait of Xmas will not be complete without the Salvation Army’s use of bell ringers to solicit donations from passers-by. In the U.S. over 25,000 volunteers with red kettles are stationed near retail stores during the weeks preceding Christmas for fundraising. The tips for budget travel around the world were very helpful for the club members.
Number of participants – 50 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please
Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (Window on America center, Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) had a topic “Veterans Day in the USA”. We were very grateful to our American volunteer Mr. Jason for attending this session as he is a US veteran himself and could tell the first hand stories about the life of the US veterans.
The session started with the introduction of the official web site of the veterans’ affairs department and demonstration of the History channel videos about the history of the Veterans Day celebration. Veterans Day is an official United States public holiday, observed annually on November 11, that honors military veterans, that is, persons who served in the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with other holidays, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. The United States previously observed Armistice Day, the holiday was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day.
The highlight of the session was the Q&A with the young veteran about his years in the US Army. Mr. Jason demonstrated to the group his army uniform and some other artifacts, introduced new vocabulary and gave an insight into the life of American military personnel.
The group gave Mr. Jason a round of applause when the Gabfest moderator thanked him for one year of volunteering at the WOA’s English-speaking Club and handed him a Gratitude Letter. At the end of the session Mr. Jason’s fans took photos with him in the US military uniform.
Number of participants – 31 persons.
Have a look at more pictures, please
