Somehow "Happy" Veterans Day doesn't sound appropriate.
"Solemn" Veterans Day...? (No...)
Each year I ponder the true meaning of Veterans Day. Are veterans "special?" Hmm... are firefighters... EMTs?
How'bout teachers? Are they special?
Plumbers...? Accountants...? Doctors...? Sanitation workers...? How'bout longshoremen?!
Oh... but Veterans VOLUNTEER!
(But... doesn't everyone... volunteer for whatever job they have... with each job being a cog in the greater machine we call American Society?)
Hey! Being in the military is DANGEROUS...!!!
(Hey... folks... ya ever meet a coal miner?) (Anyone watch that cable show "Dangerous Jobs?")
Hmm... perhaps we should gauge the honor we show our veterans by whether they saw combat or not... whether they escaped unscathed - mentally... physically - from their service?
No... that wouldn't be fair. Any volunteer could find himself or herself in a life and death situation at any time; just look at the TWO Ft. Hood "incidents" of... er... "workplace violence."
(Hmm... but that applies to ALL of us as well; wrong time... wrong place...)
(*SHRUG*)
Anyway... I'm rambling.
Here's to Uncle Art... who was a tanker with Patton...
Here's to Uncle Bob... who bombed the Germans back into the stone age as a U.S. Army Air Force pilot back oh so long ago...
Here's to my Dad... Semper Fi... Pacific Theatre... World War Two.
Folks... I may or may not get around to adding any newsbites today. Mary's home - off for the holiday - and we're heading out for the day now.
Ponder my words here if you choose. Better yet... should you find yourselves with time on your hands today... browse through past newsbites... past stand-alones. Educate yourselves!
I'm not a veteran. That said... this blog is partially my way of honoring veterans... and indeed honoring America.
With every post... with every newsbite... I'm shouting to the rafters, "LET'S SAVE AMERICA!"
Folks... allowing the country to decline... to fall... THAT would be the ultimate "diss" to our nation's veterans.
Think on that...
2 comments:
Amen, and having pondered...
I think the thing about veterans is, they not only wear the flag, they represent it. And she is us. True, many emergency services wear the flag...but it isn't quite the same. (I mean no disrespect by that, either)
As time goes by, more and more uniforms of public servants drop the flag. I remember David being upset about the switch to polos because it meant no more flag daily. Only his white shirt now, formal, carries a flag.
It seems a strange thing, doesn't it? But there's just something about that flag...still...to some of us.
The late, great Samuel Huntington devoted many pages to explaining the historical relationship Americans have with our Flag.
http://www.amazon.com/Who-Are-We-Challenges-Americas/dp/0684870541
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