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.