Post by sciwriter on Nov 5, 2006 14:49:41 GMT -7
* WHAT IS A VET?*
>
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a
missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the
eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin
holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the
leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the
soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.
Except in parades, however, the men and women who have
kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.
You can't tell a vet just by looking. What is a vet?
>
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in
Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure
the armored personnel carriers didn't run
out of fuel.
>
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden
planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is
outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by
four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th
parallel.
She - or he - is the nurse who fought against utility
and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid
years in Da Nang.
He is the POW who went away one person and came back
another - or didn't come back AT ALL.
He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never
seen combat - but has saved countless lives by
turning, slouchy hill-billy rednecks and no
-account gang members into Marines, and teaching
them to watch each other's backs.
>
He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on
his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the
ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The
Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National
Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the
anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with
them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless
deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the
supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who
helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who
wishes all day long that his wife were still alive
to hold him when the nightmares come.
He also was my father, your father, grandfather,
husband, brother, uncle, cousin, and yes , all the
females who bravely served and are serving their
country, for OUR freedom .
He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human
being - a person who offered some of his life's most
vital years in the service of his country, and who
sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to
sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the
darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest,
greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest
nation ever known.
>
So remember, each time you see someone who has
served or is serving our country, just lean over and
say "Thank You." That's all most people need, and in
most cases it will mean more than any medals they
could have been awarded or were awarded. Two little
words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU".
>
Remember: November 11th is Veterans Day
>
And don't forget to Fly The FLAG on Nov. 11th, with
pride:
>
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a
missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the
eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin
holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the
leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the
soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.
Except in parades, however, the men and women who have
kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.
You can't tell a vet just by looking. What is a vet?
>
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in
Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure
the armored personnel carriers didn't run
out of fuel.
>
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden
planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is
outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by
four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th
parallel.
She - or he - is the nurse who fought against utility
and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid
years in Da Nang.
He is the POW who went away one person and came back
another - or didn't come back AT ALL.
He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never
seen combat - but has saved countless lives by
turning, slouchy hill-billy rednecks and no
-account gang members into Marines, and teaching
them to watch each other's backs.
>
He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on
his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the
ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The
Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National
Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the
anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with
them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless
deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the
supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who
helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who
wishes all day long that his wife were still alive
to hold him when the nightmares come.
He also was my father, your father, grandfather,
husband, brother, uncle, cousin, and yes , all the
females who bravely served and are serving their
country, for OUR freedom .
He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human
being - a person who offered some of his life's most
vital years in the service of his country, and who
sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to
sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the
darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest,
greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest
nation ever known.
>
So remember, each time you see someone who has
served or is serving our country, just lean over and
say "Thank You." That's all most people need, and in
most cases it will mean more than any medals they
could have been awarded or were awarded. Two little
words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU".
>
Remember: November 11th is Veterans Day
>
And don't forget to Fly The FLAG on Nov. 11th, with
pride:
