Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld released his Veterans Day message to service members Nov. My father volunteered to serve in the Navy shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. At 38, he was well beyond draft age, but he wanted to serve. When he passed away some years ago, I found a letter in his personal papers that he had received from then Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal, who later became our country's first Secretary of Defense. Secretary Forrestal apparently sent such a letter to those who served, to arrive after they had returned to civilian life. Noting the historic achievements made by the U.S. "You have served in the greatest Navy in the world. ... It crushed two enemy fleets at once, receiving their surrenders only four months apart.