Normally this would be a topic for the Loading Dock, but due to the number of veterans we have on this site, I thought it appropriate to post here in the main forum.
I want all our posters, and lurkers, to join us in thanking all the veterans we have here, for their service. We owe them a debt, and a huge thanks.
_____________
What is a Veteran?
You can't tell a veteran just by looking.
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 futility 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, no-account rednecks and
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 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 our country,
just lean over and say "Thank You."
___________________________
It is the Veteran--
...
It is the VETERAN, not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.
...
It is the VETERAN, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.
...
It is the VETERAN, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
...
It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.
...
It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.
...
It is the VETERAN, not the politician,
who has given us the right to vote.
...
It is the VETERAN,
who salutes the flag.
...
It is the VETERAN,
who serves under the flag.
...
and it is the VETERAN, in the end,
who lies under the flag he fought to protect.
----------------
"Let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us re-consecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain." -Dwight D. Eisenhower
I want all our posters, and lurkers, to join us in thanking all the veterans we have here, for their service. We owe them a debt, and a huge thanks.
_____________
What is a Veteran?
You can't tell a veteran just by looking.
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 futility 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, no-account rednecks and
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 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 our country,
just lean over and say "Thank You."
___________________________
It is the Veteran--
...
It is the VETERAN, not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.
...
It is the VETERAN, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.
...
It is the VETERAN, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
...
It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.
...
It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.
...
It is the VETERAN, not the politician,
who has given us the right to vote.
...
It is the VETERAN,
who salutes the flag.
...
It is the VETERAN,
who serves under the flag.
...
and it is the VETERAN, in the end,
who lies under the flag he fought to protect.
----------------
"Let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us re-consecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain." -Dwight D. Eisenhower
