I just posted this over on the WW newsgroup, and after reading this day's post, it seems this subject has been avoided here. So while I am having my flag waiving day, I thought I would post it here, too.
**************** I wasn't going to post anything as this venue can be a really strange place to be. But after watching the morning news and watching the vets speak about the day's ceremonies I felt like I needed to get typing. So few understand the importance of Veterans Day and what it really means.I live (and grew up in) a military based city, and at one time we had five (yes, five) military bases that honored our fair city with their presence. This close up look at the system and its people no doubt color my perception as I have now lived here for 40+ years.
Military service is considered to this day an honor here, and those past their terribly confusing collegial years understand that the sacrifice made by so many transcends petty politics and party squabbling, and the current presidential policies. In fact, it is the sacrifice of others that make all the squabbling, disagreement, etc. possible.
There are plenty of vets here that have returned after training to settle in, and we honor them and their predecessors all during the year, not just once a year. Old timers have set up outreach programs for younger soldiers, and it is never unusual to see soldiers in their fatigues anywhere at anytime.
My next door neighbor received two purple hearts and a bronze star at Monte Cassino. LOML's recently passed father received the DSC for his actions at the same place, along with other accolades and personal letters from commanding officers for his service and bravery on that mountain.
One of the guys that subcontracts from me is a wounded door gunner from a Huey that fights his spinal injury hard almost every day. A fellow contractor that I partner with on occasion has long scars up and down one arm and down his back from his time in Korea. In ten years, he has never even hinted at what happened to him other than to say he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The forklift driver at the lumberyard I buy from has so many skin grafts on his arms and chest he looks like a checkerboard from burns received in Desert Shield. One of my closest friend's Dad was at Pearl Harbor, and was there literally watching while the base was bombed. He witnessed the bombing and sinking of the battleships, the destruction the bases and the deaths of thousands of soldiers and civilians.
Military life is never far from us here, and I am glad of it. I think it helps us remember that there is strife and conflict outside of our normal mundane lives, and that those folks play(ed) a necessary and profoundly important role in the security and safety of our country. Soldiers have protected us and our way of life since the inception of this country. They have also protected the lives and beliefs of others, most of the time in far away places, out of touch with family and loved ones, missing birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and all manner of other things that are taken for granted by many of us.
It is important to note too, that the fine men and women in the service now are all volunteers. That's a helluva thing: to volunteer your life for the service of others.
This is an important day, one to recognize the sacrifice for soldiers past and present, and to preserve a sense of deeply felt appreciation for those living and dead.
I didn't write this out to start yet another thread debating/ attacking the direction of The United States, its policies, it politicians, or its way of life. I am sick of that. This was a commentary on my personal beliefs that happen to be shared by many around me. Snide remarks, witty retorts, and cute sound bites are NOT welcome.
And this day has nothing to do with that type of dialogue, other than the fact it was made possible by a veteran. So I say if you see a vet wearing his hat with the service pins on it, or a younger soldier in his fatigues, make their day: shake their hand and thank them for a job well done.
Robert