As a person who not only was never in the military but also in fact an avid anti Viet Nam, war protestor I should be the last person to write anything about Veterans Day observations. Yet here I am putting pen to paper or I should say keystroke to screen about this Wednesday's holiday. I may have been against that war and yet I still supported our troops sent there through no choice of their own. Now whether this was ironic or merely loyalty to my fellow man I don't know but that was truly the way I felt.
As a young man, I was in the draft pool as everyone else but I was never called thank god. I can't say I've lost anyone to the wars, my dad and all my uncles returned unharmed from WWll. I have cousins and a brother in law who came back from Viet Nam unwounded if not unscathed. My son who has had tours during both of the last two Iraq wars came back healthy. Now my son would be the first to tell you that he was not on the front lines and therefore not in harm's way. However, as a father I still had concerns about him being on foreign soil and in the uniform of our nations military. My condolences go out to those not as lucky as myself. We know life goes on but to as how you accomplish this I couldn't say.
I say whatever your views on our armed incursions onto foreign lands shouldn't matter. If you think, we are saving lives and defeating despots or that our armed services are just puppets of greedy industrialists, our thoughts on the troops should be the same. There is no politics in the trenches; our soldiers bleed no matter what the reason they are on the front. You only have to drive by one of our many Veteran Cemeteries to witness the price so many have paid. When you see all those graves just row after row it moves you to tears.
This is a thank you to all who are serving our country. You are risking you life and spending your youth in service to the United States. We all want you to know what you do is appreciated and our prayers are for you to all return home safe.
