Honoring All Who Served

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Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while might remember my Veteran's Day Rant last year. This year I am taking the day off - UNPAID - it irritates the shit out of me.

This holiday - once called Armistice Day and celebrated at the 11th hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month - honors all Veterans. This year marks the 90th anniversary of Veteran's Day.

I know that many of my readers believe we've never had any business in Iraq - that this particular war has been a needless expense - both in U.S. dollars and in lives lost. I ask that on this day, rather than using it as a symbolic platform to spew hatred towards the current political regime, you instead say only two words - THANK YOU!

You see, some veterans bear visible signs of their service: an amputated limb, a series of scars, a certain look in their eye, but other than in parades - so few and far between any longer - the men and women who have kept America safe have no badge or emblem. You can't tell who is a veteran just by looking at them.

That young man flipping burgers at McDonald's? He might very well have given two years of his life in Iraq, hoping to keep terrorists in their own country rather than having them fight their war in ours.

The older gentleman who greets you at WalMart? He may have been involved in liberating the Nazi death camps.

That young woman who draws your blood at doctor's office? She might very well have mended wounded soldiers during Desert Storm.

What all veterans have in common is that they have offered some of their life's most vital years in the service of this country. They have often sacrificed their ambitions, and those of their family members, so that others would not have to sacrifice theirs. They are ordinary, but extraordinary, people.

For just one day, please set aside your political agenda and instead show gratitude. Just stop for a moment and say, "Thank You." Not, "Thank you but ...", just plain "Thank You!" That's all most of us want, and in most cases it means far more to us than any medal or award we might have received. We just want to know that you realize the value of what we've given, and continue to give, to this great country.

To those who, like me, have served this great nation - Thank You!

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TMI Tuesday will return next week. This is far more important.

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