"Over There"

Today is Veteran's Day and I am very aware of and grateful to all veterans of the U.S. military.  The following post is a repeat of last year's entry for this day.  If you weren't a follower last year, it will be new to you, but if you've read this before, you know that this expresses exactly how I feel about those individuals who are willing to go "Over There" where they fight and sometimes die, to protect the rest of us!

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First Posted November 11, 2009:

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 Armistice ending World War I, The Great War, and was, in fact, called Armistice 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 at least one was in Iraq.....I am grateful to them and all the other soldiers, sailors, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard. I salute them. Because of them, we are still able to live in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.