Veterans Day

Tomorrow (Monday, November 11) is Veterans Day in the U.S. and I just wanted to take a moment to express my sincere thanks to our friends and colleagues here who are veterans for their service and sacrifice. Whether you fought for the U.S. or for an allied nation, I owe my freedom to you. Having lived under totalitarian regimes, I cannot take my freedom for granted or forget my debt to you. God bless you and your brothers in sisters in arms who are no longer here to receive our thanks.

11/10/2013

                        Hello Victor..

                                        I always put out my flag on Veterans Day, to honor those 
                 from American Revolution War, Spanish-American War, WW 1, WW 2, Korean War,
                 Vietnam War, Desert Strom, Iraq War, Afghanistan War, to honor all those men
                 and women, plus to honor mr granfather, my father, my uncle...

                            Cheers....Joe..

I wrote an article for www.swspotlight.com recent issue about a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves who came here from Algeria.  His pride in being a U.S. citizen and serving in the U.S. Army is interesting and heart warming to read.

The article is "Proud to be an American" and is on the front page when the site opens.  Easy to find.

Victor, you're welcome!

Joe, mine flys  24/7 - 365

Today is the Marine Corps Birthday. My David and my stepson honor this day, too.  They both spent a good lot of time in the Corps.  

Our Don Stephens is one really decorated veteran, well deserved.  Airborne!
Love, 
Betty

Hi, Don, I was just talking about you.  We posted at the same time.  

Love, Betty

11/10/2013

                    DK..

                         I just came from your heart warming story ! That man is a great human being,
                         I love anyone who loves animals, I wish him great luck.

                                                       Cheers..Joe..

Hi Betty...God Bless...Stay Sweet

Joe,

I read a story very recently about complaints about flag pins in a school system and immediately bought a dozen pins to supplement the one I used to switch between my suits. I now have one on every suit and jacket I wear.

DK,

Great story. Thank you for sharing it.

Don,

You were at the forefront of my mind when I posted this.

Betty,

You remind us of an important point--we honor our veterans but should always remember their families'  sacrifice who suffer along side them, worry sick about them when they're deployed, and are too often left with insufficient resources to help our soldiers pick up the pieces when they come home. God Bless you, Betty, and them always.

Don,

I never look at the flag without thinking about the men and women who, like you, will never let her touch the ground. God Bless You!

11/10/2013

                       Victor.. 

                                 I salute you !

                                 Cheers..Joe...

I appreciate the thought, Joe. But wearing a flag pin in an ivy tower is easy. Being shot at by the enemy on foreign soil, sea or airspace, not so much. Let's salute the people who deserve it--our vets and current men and women in uniform. 

I stared a long time at my computer screen this morning before starting the Veteran's Day message that was eventually posted on two of my blogs a day early. It is awkward but heartfelt. (If you'd like, you can see it here)

Your post was a pleasure to read, Victor.  You and I often differ politically, but on this subject we are of one mind. 

I was glad to see the Sunday papers mentioning the increased and complicated role of women in the military.

Many restaurants and food places are serving veterans and currently enlisted at no cost tomorrow.  Perhaps that should occur more often.

Most critically, jobs need to be available to everyone who serves when they leave the military. We go about our daily lives in security while their career is protecting us.  They deserve every benefit and preference provided when they muster out, whether combat or not, they said "send me" when they enlisted.

Thanks for reading my little article in the Southwest Spotlight .  Interviewing him was humbling to my own patriotic self.  I saw my country through different eyes.  I talk a good story sometimes, but I'm sure I take my comfortable life for granted most days.  It's good that Veteran's Day is a reminder to be grateful.

God bless and keep the Veterans and may we as a county do more for them.
First and foremost--avoid unnecessary wars.

Hear hear, D.K.

We may differ politically as to the best means to achieve the goals we would both want for our country and for all Americans--not just the fortunate ones with jobs and stable lives. I know we agree on that, which is why I will always respect your point of view.

Your article was compelling on many levels. Captain Amici and I have more than you may think in common, including our status as naturalized citizens and immigrants who came here in pursuit of a better life. Immigrants are often the most patriotic (perhaps overly so at times) precisely because we appreciate both the freedom and  opportunities our adoptive country provides, and we are loyal to her because she welcomes and and provided those opportunities with no strings attached. And that is one of the many reasons we are so grateful for the men and women in uniform who are the guardians and protectors of those freedoms and of the country we so love. 

As hard as it is for women in the world of business and in the professions where the glass ceiling has been scratched but not yet broken through, it is harder still in that most male dominated boy's club that has been the traditional armed forces. One of the many things I love about the armed forces is its merit-based promotion system that is generally much less susceptible to political correctness and politics than the world of business. African Americans have long thrived in the military, as have other minorities for whom custom, prejudice and outright racism made it difficult to compete in many states. Sexism no doubt still exists in the military, but quality will always prevail there as well. Meritocracies always allow good people to thrive.

As an aside on extraordinary women in uniform, I recently learned that Maj. General Suzanne Vautrinot retired this October. She is one of the most extraordinarily gifted, well rounded individuals I have ever known. In a world sorely in need or role models, she rises head and shoulders above mere mortals. I know this sounds like hyperbole, but it is not. My wife and I last saw her last more than 15 years ago, but we are fans for life. She is among a handful of people I've met and gotten to know who has left an indelible mark on me. She is much too young to retire, and whatever her next posting, she is certain to leave her mark. Keep your rock stars, politicians, Hollywood stars and pretenders to relevance of both sexes. One Zanne outweights them all in this or any other universe (to say nothing of dime-a-dozen academics like me). Here is a recent video--someone well worth noting and of thanking for her service on veteran's day and any day of this or any other year: Maj Gen. Suzanne Vautrinot

Honoring those who served in the military is good and proper.
Our thoughts about this honor may vary.  Although I served in the USAF and am classified as a Veteran, I cannot claim the status of someone like Don Stephens or of our late friend, Dick Stodghill.  Seeing action is one thing.  Being prepared for action is also important, but not the same thing.  There are those who joined to serve because they felt it their duty to their country.  There are those who were itching for a fight.  There are those who had not choice and were drafted.  Regardless of the country or the cause, they did serve.
In Germany they celebrate Veterans Day and it is called, “Volkstrauertag”.  That will be celebrated on Sunday.  This day is not political in any way, but to remember the fallen.  Our Men’s choir will be singing at this event that is held in the village square next to a memorial for the fallen.  The names of the young men from the village that served and died in service are read.  Last year I stood by an 80+ year old veteran.  When the names were read and the songs were sung, tears ran down his cheeks.  I can only imagine what he was thinking.  Perhaps it was: “But for the Grace of God, I would not be here.”
 
To me, Veterans Day is also a reminder that we must work to avoid another War.  War signifies the death of men and women.  Where war takes place, civilians also die.  Those not killed, struggle to survive.  There is nothing glorious about war.  That is made clear in Dick Stodghill’s book, “Normandy 1944 – A Young Rifleman’s War”.  If anyone here has not read it, I suggest you find a copy and read it.  It is not fiction.

Hear, hear Alice!

Abe,

Though I think we should especially honor those who endured combat today, every person who served honorably and was prepared to defend his/her country is worthy of our thanks, our gratitude and our support. Thank you for your service.

Thanks Victor.  Much appreciated.

... and we can remember their families and loved ones who  cried when they left, prayed for their safe return and never were the same again.

Victor, I've been waiting to post  to your worthwhile thread, because I've been working on a new page for my website that I feel speaks to one of, if not the most significant areas that Veteran's Day needs to focus on in our current society.  I call it The Hero's Return.  It has to do with the returning veterans difficulty in assimilating back into society after having been in combat.  With that intent, I have reprinted about 30 pages from A Myth in Action: The Heroic Life of Audie Murphy, beginning with the last scene from "Part II: Initiation - The Granting of the Boon," and includes the beginning sections of "Part III: The Return," mostly involving the chapters "San Antonio to Farmersville," which relates Lt Murphy's activities from the time he steps off the plane bringing him from Europe to his home state of Texas, and from the chapter "Stranger in a Strange Land," the title chosen because it captures the mindset of not only Lt. Murphy, but of most combat vets during the early parts of that return.
You can find the page here.

Ann,

I remember these pages from your book. Too many of our soldiers return from active duty with wounds that will not heal, like Murphy's. Most do so without fame or medals and, as I've said on my blogs today and Alice echoes here, it is their families who are left to pick up the pieces--if they are lucky enough to have a supporting home to return to, which Murphy certainly did not. Even our most heroic soldiers like Murphy (who it is clear from your book never saw himself as a hero or sought out glory but simply did his job again, again and yet again defying the odds and undaunted by danger) need support. Imagine those soldiers returning to an ungrateful country to face nothing but scorn in addition to their wounds after Vietnam--something Alice also knows all too well, unfortunately.

We do not celebrate war today, but the quiet heroism of the thousands who fight in them for the sake of their country, their families and their brothers and sisters in uniform (and not necessarily in that order). We can never forget our debt to our brave men and women in uniform or to their families.

P.S. For anyone not already familiar with Ann's book, A Myth in Action: The Heroic Life of Audie Murphy, you can find it on Kindle and soft cover editions at Amazon, where I bought my own copy some time ago, by clicking on the book's name in this postscript or on the full link below. Highly recommended!

http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Action-Heroic-Audie-Murphy-ebook/dp/B00BFASJR0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384198821&sr=8-1&keywords=audie+murphy+myth+in+action

Along with my dear friend, Alice, I know how it felt to have a brother return from Vietnam forever changed. My brother, a decorated Navy pilot whose honors included the DFC, also came home to that scorn and disfavor, and some of those who rejected him were former close friends who had looked up to him as a leader.  While Bill did not have the obvious symptoms of PTSD, his personality was permanently changed by the attitudes he faced.  He had a hard time grasping, too, that I, his own sister, could "hate the war and love the warrior," an expression I used in AMIA.  He left for Vietnam a happy-go-lucky guy who always left everybody laughing.  That side of him only came out occasionally afterwards, I'm afraid.  He would have turned 73 a couple of weeks ago, as I posted on my joy thread.

Abe...Be grateful you didn't have to see combat, but be no less proud of you status as a veteran. 
You signed up and served.  I once heard, I don’t remember where, we didn’t sign a contract with
our country to serve, WE SIGNED A BLANK CHECK, WHICH OUR COUNTRY COULD CASH FOR OUR
VERY LIVES!
You signed that check the same as I did.  I thank you for your service and I am PROUD to call you FRIEND.
 
For those of you that say thank you to a veteran…You are welcome.  If you really want to show your gratitude,

figure out a way to prevent the sending of more of our young people in Harm’s Way!


THERE ARE NO WINNERS IN WAR...ONLY SURVIVORS!


Happiness is being a former Airborne Ranger,
and still being alive to brag about it!


AIRBORNE - ALL THE WAY!


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Don,
You have the right attitude in my sight.