Veterans Day

Thank you Dave. I will be at our observance ceremony today, as I always am. My daughter will be with me. The crowd always seems to be getting older and some of the really old timers will not be there. It is a patriotic event but somber in many ways.
 
Call me old fashioned but I confess to missing the days of universal mandatory military service. Not that the all volunteer force is bad, but when everybody has a taste, people become more sympathetic to the rigors of family separation, low pay, dying in far away places etc.. I also always thought the politicians had second and third thoughts about sending kids into harms way when everybody had an oar in the water. Not so much these days. Thanks to all who served and serve. Vietnam vets....Welcome Home!
 
Had my free breakfast and will be getting lunch and dinner later. Stacey usually gets a freebie too!! Thanks to all of you! Oo rah!!
 
Yep, thanks to all of them. And, thanks for the thanks. Ted, I was very skeptical of a volunteer military. Really did not think it would work, but I was wrong. I'm always impress when I go to a military base and see the caliber of people in the military. I salute them. Your points about our politicians are well taken though. I've always felt when they send they need to let the military run the war. The politicians stay out of it. We haven't won a war since they decided they were the ones that should be making the military decisions.
 
Lotsa 'free' breakfasts, dinners, desserts, etc. available here. Personally, I won't take advantage of any of them, because I'm fortunate enough to be able to pay my own way, unlike many of my fellow Vets. I'll leave the 'freebees for them. They certainly deserve them more than me!

USMC, Retired
22 years, 5 months, 5 days - but who counted? :D
 
A big thank you to all of the veterans out there. Your service helped make this country great!!!

On a personal level, I was reminded recently of my father's service in WWII when my oldest daughter asked for information her son could use for a Veteran's Day report at school. My father never talked about his service, but my mother filled me in when I asked as an adult many years ago. Dad came back from the war in Germany with shrapnel in his head and occasionally had severe headaches. He was a good man and made a good life for all of us, regardless of what had happened to him. Mom told me he was in the middle of a battle in Germany. When his unit was under fire, a mortar shell landed in or near the foxhole he and his buddy were in. His buddy was killed right next to him and dad received some injuries. As I said, dad never talked about his experience, although many men bragged about theirs.

I recall a conversation with my father when I must have been about 35. I had made it through the Vietnam era with job deferments and pure luck with the draft lottery. Way back in 1964 when I was called up in the draft, my employer offered to apply for a job deferment, which was approved. I was fully prepared to join the Navy and talked at length with a recruiter, but my employer's offer won out. When the job deferments were eliminated several years later, I dealt with the lottery situation year-to-year. After I hit age 35, I considered myself fortunate but always wondered about how my father might have felt about it since he served in the heat of battle in Germany in WWII. When I said something about feeling lucky and wondered how he felt about it, he assured me I had done the right thing. Nothing more was said.

Dad had a series of severe heart attack when he was in his early 40s and was never the same again. He lived until age 62 and enjoyed every day he had. His love of woodworking steered me in the same direction, although we never had a chance to work on much together because of distance. One thing I learned from his experience with his heart problems is to listen to what my body was telling me. As a result, I've had good medical attention and have lived way past what I expected. Although his experiences in serving our country were not something he chose to talk about, they made him the quality of man he became. I'm fortunate to have had a dad like that!
 
Yep, thanks to all of them. And, thanks for the thanks. Ted, I was very skeptical of a volunteer military. Really did not think it would work, but I was wrong. I'm always impress when I go to a military base and see the caliber of people in the military. I salute them. Your points about our politicians are well taken though. I've always felt when they send they need to let the military run the war. The politicians stay out of it. We haven't won a war since they decided they were the ones that should be making the military decisions.

Paul, like you I am impressed with the people I see on occasional visits to military installations. There is an upside to the all volunteer services. But there are considerable downsides as well. The military is not cross training it's people. Career military is not unlike a job these days. We need our people to be able to step in where needed. Plus, when we had mandantory enlistment we sent men (historically) back home better people than they were before being drafted. And they made better contributions to the community. I served on the Selective Service Board for 20 by appointement of President Ronald Reagan. We only maintained the system for a possible national emergency but I always regreted the lack of a mandantory service. Today's generations have no understanding of a sense of duty to country. I could go on..... End of sermon.
BTW, we had a fine observation ceremony yesterday. Was proud to be there. I know some of the hands I shook yesterday will not return. At least two were in their 90's, others near.
 
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