Monday, November 12, 2007

Veteran's Day

Our family is blessed to come from a rich heritage of military service. Between Tony and I, three of our grandfathers fought in WWII; all still living. My father served briefly in the Army, and now my husband himself serves in the Air Force, helping to safeguard our country's bounteous blessings. So today, we want to express our thanks to the current and past members of the military AND their families who certainly sacrifice as well. So if you see a vet today, thank them for their service. Your simple words will mean more than you know.

To illustrate, Tony and I were walking through the Sea-Tac airport on our way to Miami shortly after his return from his tour in Baghdad. An older gentleman came up to him and asked if he had served in Iraq. (My guess is that the buzz cut and deep tan gave it away, even in "civvies"). When Tony said yes, the man simply said, "Thank you, for all you boys are doing over there." That was it. Touched my heart and made me tear up a bit. It also made me proud. So proud to be married to a man who loves his country enough to serve it, despite the separations, the lousy hours, and the funny looking uniform. Heck, at least it isn't green...

Let me finish my thoughts today with a quote from Ronald Reagan, given in Washington DC at the Vietnam Memorial on Veteran's Day. It spoke to my soul.


"Today, Veterans Day, as we do every year, we take that moment to embrace the gentle heroes of Vietnam and of all our wars. We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause."
--Ronald Reagan, 11 November 1988

1 comment:

Scribbit said...

No comments yet? Well I'll jump in and say thanks too--


Andrew's out of town on business and I'm up way too late again blogging. He leaves and I can't seem to get to bed on time :)