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Veterans Day
- Thread starter Paul B
- Start date
What is a Veteran?
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.
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. 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".
"It is the soldier, not the reporter, Who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, Who has given us the
freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag."
Father Denis Edward O'Brien/USMC
I am proud to be a Vet! Even more proud of my friends and fellow servicemen who gave so much more than me. I served 10 yrs finishing up on the USS John F Kennedy (CVN-67) spending 9 months in the Persian Gulf. I miss my buddies and am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve my country. I now pay tribute to those suffering with grief of a loss, seperation from family, and ultimately those who selflessly gave their lives. I am grateful every day for being able to give back through the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I hold an office in our local Brigantine Post and do it so that I may be of assistance to another vet, active duty or not. Thank them often, please. Not just on Veterans Day.
Paul B
NJRC Member
Weinerdog, very nice post and thank you for your service. That is a long time to serve and I am honored to know you.
I am also a proud Vet. I spent a year in the jungle of Viet Nam and Cambodia and I would do it all over again. I also miss my buddies who I served with. I lost many friends and all of my 7 guys the second week I was in country.
I still get teery eyed on Veterans day when I go to memorial cerimonies. I went to one today and actually got yelled at by a Korea War Vet who was in full uniform. I was only wearing my vintage army shirt. He told me it was improper for me to only wear part of the uniform without wearing the full uniform. He was correct and I apoligized to him.
It is a thing of honor and respect and I won't do it again.
But thank you again for your honorable service and lets pray all of our troops get home safe and soon.
I am also a proud Vet. I spent a year in the jungle of Viet Nam and Cambodia and I would do it all over again. I also miss my buddies who I served with. I lost many friends and all of my 7 guys the second week I was in country.
I still get teery eyed on Veterans day when I go to memorial cerimonies. I went to one today and actually got yelled at by a Korea War Vet who was in full uniform. I was only wearing my vintage army shirt. He told me it was improper for me to only wear part of the uniform without wearing the full uniform. He was correct and I apoligized to him.
It is a thing of honor and respect and I won't do it again.
But thank you again for your honorable service and lets pray all of our troops get home safe and soon.
Semper Fi
Paul B...thank you and all you've done. The Korean War Vet...well you've served and with pride. You meant no disrespect. What about those who dont have their full uniforms? It is not disrespectful!!! It is only disrespectful if that is where your heart lies. I apologize for my fellow Korean Vet. You would never hear a word from my mouth...I attend many Veterans events and it has never crossed my mind to speak to any fellow Vet with that tone. Thats just me personally. Anyway, thank you Paul and I hope to see you at the Swap tomorrow.ENJOY YOUR DAY!!!
Thank you veterans and double thank you Paul B for starting this post.
In addition to today being Veteran’s day, yesterday was the 236 anniversary of the Marine Corp. We called my Dad today to honor his service to the Marines during “the big one,” as Archie Bunker would say. My Dad was involved in the build-up of Marines in anticipation of the invasion of Japan, if they did not surrender from the two little nuclear incidents.
Again, thank you all vet’s, including those not properly dressed. A big salute to you.
And I certainly don’t mean to be confrontational, but “Semper Fi” is a Marine thing, while Paul B is an Army boy, and you might have been better off saying “Hooah!” Hooah is more an Army thing. But maybe we can look at this like we look at Saint Patrick’s Day were EVERYONE is Irish…..so maybe on Veteran’s Day saying “Aways Faithful” holds true to all branches of the service.
In addition to today being Veteran’s day, yesterday was the 236 anniversary of the Marine Corp. We called my Dad today to honor his service to the Marines during “the big one,” as Archie Bunker would say. My Dad was involved in the build-up of Marines in anticipation of the invasion of Japan, if they did not surrender from the two little nuclear incidents.
Again, thank you all vet’s, including those not properly dressed. A big salute to you.
And I certainly don’t mean to be confrontational, but “Semper Fi” is a Marine thing, while Paul B is an Army boy, and you might have been better off saying “Hooah!” Hooah is more an Army thing. But maybe we can look at this like we look at Saint Patrick’s Day were EVERYONE is Irish…..so maybe on Veteran’s Day saying “Aways Faithful” holds true to all branches of the service.
Jeez I thank you guys and all my friends who have served, they may not have been in service as logn as you guys, but have done tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I almost went, but besides not getting medical clearance (shattered every bone in my foot) and my marine buddy saying if I enlisted he'd put the first bullet I still have much respect for all you guys.
That's the way I look at it.
Paul B
NJRC Member
Weinerdog, last night we sponsored a fund raiser for Multiple Sclerosis and the mayor or my town was there. He was also there at the Veteran's Day Cerimony. I told him about the Korean War Vet and he told me that he is just a crotchety old may with some issues.
He may be but he is still a Vet and entitled to his opinions. Besides he outranked me. He was an E-6 I was an E-5.
Good thing he didn't make me do push ups
I know, I do get Semper Fi a lot and it is an honor no matter what you say.
That army shirt I wear only on Veterans day is kind of falling apart. It was issued to me a few weeks after my 19th birthday. The rest of my uniform didn't fit me the first tuesday after I got home.
Living in a jungle, filling sandbags and eating C Rations almost every day 3 times a day will take weight off you much faster than Weight Watchers.
Welcome home all you Veterans from all wars and lets get the rest of you home.
My last home in country
He may be but he is still a Vet and entitled to his opinions. Besides he outranked me. He was an E-6 I was an E-5.
Good thing he didn't make me do push ups
I know, I do get Semper Fi a lot and it is an honor no matter what you say.
That army shirt I wear only on Veterans day is kind of falling apart. It was issued to me a few weeks after my 19th birthday. The rest of my uniform didn't fit me the first tuesday after I got home.
Living in a jungle, filling sandbags and eating C Rations almost every day 3 times a day will take weight off you much faster than Weight Watchers.
Welcome home all you Veterans from all wars and lets get the rest of you home.
My last home in country
I almost think rank disappears once you retire. My Dad reached the high rank of Private, First Class. A couple of years ago he went to play a round of golf over at Fort Bragg. Well you would have thought he was a General. It was "Yes Sir," this and "Yes Sir," that from everyone he met at the fort's golf course. I was surprised.
