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Honoring All Who Serve. . .
From the Heart of a Vietnam Veteran
It seems so many have forgotten the meaning of Veterans Day. But what makes it so special a day that every American should take a moment to reflect, and thank those who serve in our armed
forces, both past and present?
From the American Revolution
To the War in Iraq
Veterans Day isn't simply about the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces of this great
country. It's about their sacrifices, heroism, and unselfish dedication to the United States of America. It's about
their willingness to lay down their lives for the ideals on which this country was founded.
Gettysburg – Civil War
Afghanistan
It's about sacrificing their lives so someone
else may live.
It's about giving their all that others may
have freedom.
It's about fighting in the mountains,
jungles and deserts in a foreign land, in
the hope that war will never have to be fought in their
homeland.
It's about fighting
oppression to allow others the right to express their opinions
and views, without fear of
reprisal and sanction.
Normandy – World War II
Korea
First Gulf War
It's about vowing to "leave no one behind"
Vietnam War
Afghanistan War
War in Iraq
And carrying a comrade in arms from the battlefield on your shoulders in the hopes he will live, but knowing that at the very least,
he will be buried in his beloved country.
It's about enduring the
horror of war in the hopes your children will
never have to do the same.
It's about lying in the mud or sand.
Fighting in a hole, and praying that the shelling will end. And looking at your buddies alongside you, and whispering words of
hope and encouragement.
It's about being dead tired and still finding the strength to go on, sometimes when the odds are so heavily against you that it
almost appears hopeless.
It's about the doctors and nurses who
endure hell with you and work
tirelessly tending the wounded.
It's about visiting a
buddy in the hospital
and reassuring him that
he'll be OK..
It's about writing a letter home for someone who will never
return home. It's about writing that letter for yourself, just in case you are one of the unlucky ones, and putting
it in your pack where it would be found.
It's about cursing and
swearing and praying and hoping.
It's about crying and smiling, sometimes at
the same time.
It's about working and fighting side by side.
It's about a common goal, where personal wants and needs are forgotten.
It's about the sharing of a candy bar,
or cookies sent from home.
It's about the looks on the face of a serviceman when he sees death and
carnage for the first time.
And it's about the face and smile of
a child
who has been rescued from the ravages of war, even if only for
awhile.
ArlingtonIt's about the fields of white crosses and
rows of simple bronze markers in cemeteries throughout the country,
marking the graves of brave men and women.
Omaha Beach CemeteryNormandy, France
It's about the graves on foreign shores where many died in the name of
freedom, but who never were able to come home.
Luxembourg American Cemetery
Battle of the Bulge
It's for the veteran shedding a tear while remembering friends and comrades from
long ago.
It's for the prisoners of war who endured
the misery and torture of captivity
in enemy hands.
It's for those who venture out in storms because the book says they have to, but the book doesn't say they
have to return.
And it's for the families of those brave men and women, who fight a personal battle every day their
loved ones are gone.
No, Veterans Day isn't simply a specified
moment in time. It's a day where every one of us needs to thank those who served this great
country, both the living and those who have
passed on.
Those of us who served will never forget them; please take a moment to remember them too.
The veteran who wrote this tribute wishes to remain anonymous.