Honoring our Veterans!

Today is our day to honor our Veterans and honor them we do! Today is for our living Veterans. On this day, I can only say, "Thank you for your service to our nation and for the sacrifices you have made and many of you continue to make as a result of war trauma and injuries - the things you don't talk about. I appreciate that too! I cannot speak to your experiences but I can speak to the love, honor paid to your duty, sacrifice, and the tears and prayers of those standing behind you at home... And I can speak to the "care packages" we sent containing "very drunk" fruit cakes, what became smashed and crumbled cookies, and all the other attempts we made to be a part of your sacrifice and to be a little closer to you. To all of you and your families: God bless you! We Americans across the nation, across the heartland, love and honor you... Our words are not enough. Words are never enough but, please, see the honor paid to you in the bright faces of our young in our uniformed services. They, by their service, honor you, what you stand for, and what you have contributed for our nation's freedom! And one day, they will be veterans too... And to a dear and most honored friend of mine - a full-blooded Sioux (he refuses todays PC names) - who fought as an under-aged Marine at the Chosin Reservoir with the X Corps, the men known as The Chosin Few (in the cold, frozen reaches of what is now North Korea), in Vietnam twice fighting and teaching our younger Marines to track and to "stay alive" in jungle conditions, Semper Fi and Stay Warm... Additional link: Chosin Reservoir Our men, and now our women, have fought, died, been maimed in the cause of service to others on foreign soil. Today, we salute our living Veterans and thank them with words because words are all we have...