Every act of service, from those who serve stateside in peace, to those who have perished abroad in war, contributes to the freedoms we so often take for granted. Thank you, veterans, for fulfilling your oath.
Important related reading: 5 Facts to Know About Veterans Day.
No need to thank me, I didn't do it for you. I did it for those who preceded me, and for those who served with me.
ReplyDelete" Thank you for your servive!.". I don't say it for you, but for all who preceeded or served with you. :p
Deleteerratun "service"...
DeleteI hate IPads!
+1!
ReplyDeleteFind a WWII veteran, but him a coffee or something stronger.....and just listen. Soon, those veterans will only be with us as the poppies are for the vets of the Great War. Don’t miss the chance to hear history first hand, before it’s gone.
ReplyDeleteAmen. God bless the men and women who fought in every war, but WW II was the last "good" war.
DeleteCI,
DeleteGood idea!
Every single one of the WW2 veterans whom we personally knew are now gone.
And we knew several.
**sigh**
SF,
DeleteWW II was the last "good" war.
My opinion, too.
WWII wa also the last LEGITIMATE war as well.
DeleteWe went off the rails when Harry the Haberdasher fired General Douglas MacArthur, who WOULD have wiped COMMUNISM off the map IF he'd been given his headlock when WE were the only noes to have THE BOMB..
At least Fifty-eight THOUSAND American MEN DIED for a "MISTAKE" in Vietnam, and we have yet to receive even so much as an APOLOGY for the havoc and desolation wrought by JOHNSON'S WAR.
Lyndon Johnson, himself, was, of course, one of the BIGGEST "mistakes," WE ever made as a people.
Electing DeminRats to ANY high office is ALWAYS erroneous.
D is for DEMOCRAT.
D us for DYSFUNCTIONAL
D is for DEMONIC
D is for DEFEATISM
D is for DISASTER.
Personal story related to my favorite cousin, who served in the US Navy during D-Day....
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, via Ancestry.com and 123&me, we found a "long lost" relative: the son of my favorite Tennessee cousin! That favorite cousin of mine shipped out to Normandy; he came home, but didn't know what to do about the baby: the mother was (1) a Yankee, (2) Polish, and (3) Roman Catholic -- factors which my favorite cousin's father would never have accepted.
Anyway, we found my favorite cousin's son JT. No doubt about it! JT has three handwritten letters written by my favorite cousin (little more than a boy at the time), and the physical resemblance is astounding. JT looks like a clone of his father! Now we are good friends with JT and his family and have welcomed them into our ever-shrinking family. As I'm going through things here during The Big Clean Out, I am passing along items to JT, including, most recently, some photos and the math textbook which my favorite cousin used in middle school up in the hills of East Tennessee.
So, this Veterans Day, I am grateful for having found my favorite cousin's son -- in spite of my favorite cousin's "mistake."
Strange how life works out sometimes, huh?
Wonderful story! My great uncle Hank brought home a war bride, a Belgian Catholic nurse who had attended him after he was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. My family was not Catholic, but nobody minded. Stories have it the men in the family enjoyed teaching her dirty words and vulgar phrases that she used on the livestock when she was herding them or harnessing them farming.
DeleteHonor the troops this Veterans Day:
ReplyDeleteBring them home from Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, and stop using them as Saudi Arabia's mercenary force.
Bring them home from...., and Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Niger, Libya, Germany, Korea, Japan, Philippines.......
DeleteRx: Get the military to GO ON STRIKE until SANITYreturns to Washington, DC.
DeleteAll this "Their's but to do and die" schiff is strictly for the WAZOOKS.
Our government can honor all veterans of all wars by being more circumspect in the employment of military forces.
ReplyDeleteIf we decide to go to war, there needs to be a clear, obtainable objective. If we don't know what victory looks like, or if government's definition of victory is a hopelessly naive fantasyland, like converting Iraq into a Germany on the Tigris, we need to stand up and tell our government to stand down.
When we must go to war, our government would honor all veterans by remembering how to WIN the wars we jump into.
Thanks to George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condileeza Rice and Don Rumsfeld (may their consciences haunt them through the end of their days) ...
* Millions of Muslims in the Middle East and South Asia have been killed, wounded or displaced, and a thousand jihad movements have metastacized
* Millions of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East and South Asia have been killed, wounded or displaced. Religious minorities are worse off than before we went in there, thanks to Christian George W. Bush.
* Over 7,000 families in the US no longer enjoy that mother, father, husband, wife, son, daughter, sister, brother who gave their life for operations in the Middle East and South Asia.
* Over 50,000 wounded men and women have had their lives changed forever, and thousands of families have been broken by endless deployments and the dysfunction that often accompanies the return of a combat veteran.
* Tens of thousands of veterans have trouble concentrating, being a productive family member, keeping their lives together, and holding down a job due to Traumatic Brain Injuries, PTSD, and other physical or psychological injuries.
When we go to war, we need to go big, allow our military to do what it takes to crush the enemy, and then go home. Ordinary Americans will be asked to do extraordinary feats, and tens of thousands will make sacrifices most of us can only imagine. When we go to war, our objectives must be worth all of that, if we are a nation that honors all our veterans and respects those who currently serve.
Yes, and there needs to be a specified and enforceable, "all troops out," end date.
DeleteWise words SF, but sadly, from your fingers to no politicians eyes. I also however, hold accountable the wild eyed, fevered polity that cheerleads our baseless acts of militarism, when it’s fair weather at least.
DeleteCI: Yup:
Delete#TooManySummerSoldiers
#F***TheArmchairGenerals
Look to ancient Persia, Rome, and other empires if antiquity. Study both eastern and western Empires, their cultures, politics, and religions. Perhaps the USA (USA and its people) could learn enough to avoid the mistakes of the past by understanding the greater, broader, complete, and more truthful world history.
DeleteBut it is highly unlikely we will.
A great book... The Silk Roads. A real education.
Doing the right thing (as Silver outlined) is the greatest honor we can bestow on our men and women in uniform.
Casualty Status as of 4 November, 2019.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many of those WIA suffer from the serious effects of head injuries.
DeleteThe number of undiagnosed and untreated would probably surprise you. The military mentality of suck it up and drive on prevents many from seeking treatment.
DeleteProud Papa Update:
ReplyDeleteJust returned from my daughter's High School JROTC Veterans Day program, where I enjoyed hearing her sing the National Anthem. I had the same pleasure years ago when her older sister sang the National Anthem at the middle school Veterans Day program.
My kids have had the honor to meet Pearl Harbor survivors and Navajo Code Talkers, among many other WW II veterans, and they all realized what an honor it was.
During today's ceremony, I looked upon the ranks of my daughter's JROTC unit, and I prayed, come what may, that our government and our nation would always do right by those who chose to serve.
SF,
DeleteHow wonderful! No wonder you're proud! And it's the right kind of pride, too.
Better yet knee the dirty bastard in the GROIN, and THEN kick him in the FACE.
ReplyDelete];^}>