I'll probably be busy doing things around town for the parade and Vets open dinner the town holds here today & tomorrow, so I'll re-post this today.
You cant tell a Vet just by looking .
He is the cop on the beat writing you a parking ticket who spent six months in Fallujah Iraq, sweating two gallons a day,and taking sniper fire while making sure the armored personnel carrier didn't run out of fuel.
He is the barroom loudmouth whose behavior is outweighed in the cosmic scales of life by four hours of frozen, unselfish, startling bravery near the 38th Parallel in Korea.
She is the nurse who fought against futility in Da Nang and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years.
He is the man who wont stand in front of the crowd, because of a night he walked point in 1967.
He is the POW who left one person and came back another,forever.
He is the drill instructor who has never been in combat, but has saved countless lives by turning no-account punks into Soldiers
.
He is the parade-riding legionnaire who proudly pins on his ribbons and medals from battles forgotten by others, with a prosthetic hand.
He is the white-haired guy bagging groceries at the supermarket, aggravatingly slow, who once helped liberate a Nazi death camp.
A vet is an ordinary and extraordinary human being , someone who offered his life's vital years in the service of his country.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.
We will never be able to repay the debt of gratitude we owe.
Thanks: Pop, Uncle BZ, Uncle John, Uncle Earl, Tony & Benny Little, Friends and forever brothers from Moyock, Rover 218 sqd, Jaxson B, Mr Teddy Price, Mr Tony Cannon,Mr Don Hall, Brother Reuther, All of the KnifeDogs who served former or currently. And all my cousins and friends who served in both war & peace,and all those we've lost.
Ooh-Rah happy 234th birthday to my Marine pals as well.
And lest we forget= There are also the families who have loved, lost, grieved and taken care of the babies and loved ones left behind.
There are none of us who aren't touched by this holiday and I am ashamed that it isn't given the same regard that some of the other "stupid" but "politically correct" holidays are.
Thank you Pop for instilling such a sense of justice in me. Thank you to all Veterans and writers of our Constitution for giving us the tools to make this the greatest country in the world.
Remember....and be Proud!
Today- stop one on the street and shake a hand, you dont need to speak at all really.
Just let them know.