Wink and all our Veterans

[Karl_K]

Thank you for your service!

 

[AGBF]

And thank you for starting the thread, Karl. I liked the discussion we had here last year, so I am posting a link to it for anyone who is interested.

Link to 2014 Veterans Day Thread...[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mistaking-memorial-day-for-veterans-day.202251/#post-3678845#p3678845']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mistaking-memorial-day-for-veterans-day.202251/#post-3678845#p3678845[/URL]

I, also, thank our veterans. My father, a World War II veteran just turned 95 on October 1. My brother happened to come down today to help out around the house here because he has the day off. I can hear my brother discussing all the years when my father made the Thanksgiving turkey with our dad. Today I made my father French toast from Pepperidge Farm chocolate chip swirl bread for breakfast. It is great to have him still with us. He joined uo right after Pearl Harbor when he had just turned 21 and married my mother two months earlier.

Deb/AGBF

 

[kenny]

I join the salute of vets who've served our country.

I served 6 years of active duty, but don't deserve a day to honor my time because I did not see combat.
(Though, sure, I could have.)

I got paid to travel the world, get a free education and enjoy some of the best years of my life.

IMO, those brave men and women who saw action are the one's to honor this day.

 

[WinkHPD]

Thank you Karl and others for your kind words and thoughts.

As a Vietnam veteran I can honestly say that I am so proud of the citizens of this country for the manner in which they treat the veterans of our recent wars. I love the respect that they are tended in public places and the assistance that so many have offered to them when they need it.

I will not speak for other veterans, but for me this is a day to celebrate the love and devotion that came from the veterans before my time and to be thankful for the continued love and devotion that is exhibited by those who continue to serve since my time. The freedoms that you all enjoy were earned by those that have chosen to serve in some way to make this country great. For some it was in the military, for others in the Peace Corps, or the press, or as teachers to our young.

There are so many ways to serve to make this a stronger nation, and I thank all of you that are doing so, in or out of the military. I cherish the fact that I was born an American and blessed to serve with other like minded men and women during my eight years in the Marine Corps.

Wink

 

[AGBF]

I served 6 years of active duty, but don't deserve a day to honor my time because I did not see combat.

Please do not say that, kenny. Once you put on the uniform, you do as you are ordered. My father, also, did not see combat. He was in The Signal Corps. He was in harms way for many years, however, and could have died as many other soldiers in his position did. When he crossed the Atlantic in a troop ship, it could have been torpedoed, although it was not. When he was in London and it was being buzz bombed, he could have been killed, although he was was not. Although he was not in the first wave to cross into France, he crossed next when there were still German troops on the ground. He was even in a truck that was hit by lightning, although all he and the other soldiers were doing at the time was fashioning candle sticks out of spent shells! (We still have those candlesticks!)

You served our country. I thank you for that. You deserve the thanks of all Americans.

Deb/AGBF

 

[AGBF]

I loved your posting, Wink. And I thank you for many things. I recently read an article in which a veteran explained why he resented the people who came up to him and thanked him for his service. I do not think that you will rebuff me if I thank you for yours, but the truth is that I resisted US participation in the war in which you served. As I have matured I have come to realize how terribly we-and I include myself in the "we" although I never spit on a soldier-treated the soldiers who served in Vietnam.

We cannot go back in time and welcome you home with more love. What we can do, however, is to make sure that facilities for our veterans, including those from Vietnam, are worthy of them. Veterans hospitals should be topnotch. They should be fully staffed with excellent doctors. There should be no long waits; no long lines; no dearth of beds. Our veterans should not be allowed to become homeless because they are mentally ill or have been denied treatment for substance abuse. We should never forget that they put their lives on the line.

It is not too late to make amends to many Vietnam veterans who need help now.

And I do thank you for your service.

Hugs,
Deb/AGBF

 

[Andelain]

Great post Wink!

Thank you all, and a thank you to my fellow veterans, including Kenny!

 

[diamondringlover]

THANK YOU to all the veterans!!!!

 

[rainydaze]

Indeed, to all veterans - Thank You!