What is a Vet?

[Ralph]

This was posted by a friend of mine elsewhere.

"What is a Vet
Anonymous author

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or
didn't come back AT ALL.

He is the Parris Island drill instructor who has never seen combat -
but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks
and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's
backs.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals
with a prosthetic hand.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who
offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his
country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to
sacrifice theirs.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose
presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the
memory of all anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them
on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now
and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who
wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the
nightmares come.

He is the bar room loud mouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose
over grown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the
cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th
parallel.

She (or he) is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep
sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he
is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the
finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just
lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most
cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or
were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU."

It's the soldier, not the reporter, Who gave us our freedom of the
press.

It's the soldier, not the poet, Who gave us our freedom of speech.

It's the soldier, not the campus organizer, Who gave us our freedom to
demonstrate.

It's the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves others with respect
for the flag, And whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who allows the
protestor to burn the flag.

Prayer for our Servicemen

Lord, hold our troops in Your loving hands. Protect them as they
protect us."

[Ten Hammers]

Ralph, thanks. Extremely well said.

[Strine]

And from this side of the puddle I wish that your commemorations go well.

Lest we forget