Veterans

Every year when Victory of Adowa is celebrated in Addis on  2nd of March, a small contingent of  " Veterans" come to celebrate wearing different former arm uniforms.  They wear uniforms ranging from Emperor Haile Selassie's imperial bodyguard to Grand uniform of the Revolutionary Army of Ethiopia and often a mix of different uniforms from different eras.  As their uniforms, their medals are also diverse. Service medals from the emperors time to the Ethio Somali war of the 1970's service medal are common. The old men in uniform, chant in the traditional war chant and parade in their mixed uniforms adding color and interest to the occasion which by itself is not a dramatic event as the victory that it commemorates. All who fought The battle of Adowa which happened 123 years ago are dead. Ethiopian Warriors led by Emperor Menelik won the battle by crashing the Italian colonialist army decisively preserving the independence of the country and dignity of its people. Ethiopians still see the victory of Adowa as the reason to be proud and confidently say "we are a nation which was never colonized". Though the old men didn't fight that battle some of them served in the army some might have been veterans of the Korean War of the 1950s which Ethiopian troops participated as a UNs collective security contingent, some might have fought in the Ethio Somali war of the '70s or the civil war in the '80s. Some might have not been to a single battle or they might be sons of the Patriots who fought the Italians in the 1930s. Whatever battles they fought or not they are symbols of national pride of an immortal victory.

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