Firstly, it is Veteran's Day, a sort of junior national holiday, you know what I mean, banks and post offices are closed but everything else is business as usual. Its an easy one to miss. I used to understand the difference between Veteran's Day and Memorial Day, but its kind of fuzzy to me now. I think Memorial Day honors those who have died for our country and not just in the military.
Whereas, I think Veterans Day is to honor any and all the men and women who have ever served in the U.S. military. I do know that the origin of this holiday was to celebrate the Armistace ending World War I, The Great War, and was, in fact, called Armistace Day for many years. That changed at some point in my mid-childhood when the powers that be (who ever they are!), realized that the War to End All Wars hadn't ended them at all. In fact, every generation seemed destined to have its own war.
Anyway, it is my opinion that no matter how you personally feel about the concept of war or any individual war, whether Korea,Viet Nam, Desert Storm, and whatever history will call the current war, it should make no difference.
The truth is that thousands of men and women have served to protect and defend all of us. We owe each of them our thanks and honor. They were there to protect everyone. They were willing to put themselves in danger and in some cases, in the extremes of peril, for us. How can we not, collectively, be a Grateful Nation? Every single day that you continue to be free to go where you want, to say what you please, to believe what you wish, you are reaping the benefit of millions of men and women who wore a U.S. military uniform for you. God Bless Them All!
As a personal side note, my father, and three uncles served in WWII, one uncle served in the Korean War, at least one of my cousins was in Viet Nam and Desert Storm, and some are in Iraq right now.
One of my three uncles was a medic and was at the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. If you don't know, this was one of the deadliest and bloodiest battles of the war in Europe. My uncle and I have talked about his experiences and I am in awe and very, very proud of him. He received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star. He suffers to this day from the residual damage done to both of his feet from being frozen during this battle. How cold must it be to actual freeze your extremities?? Especially, when he was there giving medical help to the wounded and dying. He is a true hero and I am grateful to him and all the other soldiers, sailors, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard. I salute them. Because of them, we are still in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
Great post. There is such a difference between being "in favor" of any particular war, and supporting the people who are over there fighting a war they did not create! Kudos and thanks to ALL the vets.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Sandi!
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