I saw a T-shirt in a catalog today - it said:
Home of the Free
Because of the Brave
and it made think a bit, about history, about the military, about veterans I have known, and about this great nation.
My uncle just died - the last in my family of his generation. He was a soldier in World War 2, and a POW in some Stalag in Germany. He was a hero - he didn't start out to be a hero, it was thrust upon him, and he accepted the duty. He was seriously mistreated as a POW, and never thought he'd live to the age of 90, but he did.
Veterans are special people - because they understand something about commitment that is no longer taught in schools. Uncle Bob was a depression kid, and knew hard times. He was a gentle man who worked with his hands - an artisan if you will. He did many things I never knew about, and he never would discuss his POW years with me. He thought that his life was more than just that period of confinement, and he was right to a large degree - there was more to his life than just that period - he had a wife and two daughters who were and are in their own right special people.
My father was not in the military - but he was a valued member of the team in Berlin that held up one end of the Berlin Airlift. If you don't know about the Airlift, shame on our educational system, because it was a part of what cemented our friendship with the German people, and served to underscore our commitment to what would become the cold war.
But for this generation, we might well be speaking German (or Japanese) now.
As time went by, it seems that patriotism has become passe, or even unfashionable, and love of country has been replaced by love of self.
The activities at Fort Hood, and the subsequent statements by our so-called leaders are beginning to worry me. We are forgetting from whence we came, and we are busily being apologized for by a set of leaders that doesn't seem to have learned history.
I am myself a veteran, although a cold war vet and not a "real" war vet. What i and those with whom I served did was not well known - indeed up until recent years it could not be discussed as it was classified. I am proud of my service, proud to have done what I did, and proud to have known many others who did the same sort of work, and did it very well.
I saw a bumper sticker that said "If you are reading this in English, thank a Vet."
Veteran's day must stay Veteran's day and not be diluted by being named something else. If we permit that, then the veterans have died in vain. History is not irrelevant. It must be known and taught, otherwise we'll get to do it all again. We have to stop coddling those who would do us violence, and start once again calling things what they are, not what we wish that they were.
Meanwhile, think on those veterans of yesterday, and the vets of today - they are doing things that need done for all of the rest of us - can we not at least show them respect for that?
Because of the Brave
and it made think a bit, about history, about the military, about veterans I have known, and about this great nation.
My uncle just died - the last in my family of his generation. He was a soldier in World War 2, and a POW in some Stalag in Germany. He was a hero - he didn't start out to be a hero, it was thrust upon him, and he accepted the duty. He was seriously mistreated as a POW, and never thought he'd live to the age of 90, but he did.
Veterans are special people - because they understand something about commitment that is no longer taught in schools. Uncle Bob was a depression kid, and knew hard times. He was a gentle man who worked with his hands - an artisan if you will. He did many things I never knew about, and he never would discuss his POW years with me. He thought that his life was more than just that period of confinement, and he was right to a large degree - there was more to his life than just that period - he had a wife and two daughters who were and are in their own right special people.
My father was not in the military - but he was a valued member of the team in Berlin that held up one end of the Berlin Airlift. If you don't know about the Airlift, shame on our educational system, because it was a part of what cemented our friendship with the German people, and served to underscore our commitment to what would become the cold war.
But for this generation, we might well be speaking German (or Japanese) now.
As time went by, it seems that patriotism has become passe, or even unfashionable, and love of country has been replaced by love of self.
The activities at Fort Hood, and the subsequent statements by our so-called leaders are beginning to worry me. We are forgetting from whence we came, and we are busily being apologized for by a set of leaders that doesn't seem to have learned history.
I am myself a veteran, although a cold war vet and not a "real" war vet. What i and those with whom I served did was not well known - indeed up until recent years it could not be discussed as it was classified. I am proud of my service, proud to have done what I did, and proud to have known many others who did the same sort of work, and did it very well.
I saw a bumper sticker that said "If you are reading this in English, thank a Vet."
Veteran's day must stay Veteran's day and not be diluted by being named something else. If we permit that, then the veterans have died in vain. History is not irrelevant. It must be known and taught, otherwise we'll get to do it all again. We have to stop coddling those who would do us violence, and start once again calling things what they are, not what we wish that they were.
Meanwhile, think on those veterans of yesterday, and the vets of today - they are doing things that need done for all of the rest of us - can we not at least show them respect for that?
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