A bit late but ...
This was written by my son on Veterans Day and posted on Facebook. I thought it was worth posting here.
"Seen a lot of very deep post this morning about veterans. I have been thinking this morning (as I iron my uniform for what must be the 10,000th time since I joined) about these post, and my service, and others service, and the families that support the service members. Recently I posted an article where the author stated that not all service members are hero's, I agreed. But all service members HAVE sacrificed. Some more, some less, but all have sacrificed. Whether you believe in all, some or none of the military action the US has taken over the course of our country's history, what you can't deny is that OUR duly elected officials are the ones that decide where and when the military is used. Our elected officials empower military leaders to determine where and when our military trains, how long they are gone for, and how to best use the military as power projection and deterrence in times of peace. So combat vet, or peace time vet, we who serve the duly elected government DO serve and sacrifice for our civilian population. I write this not because I want to rub our service in the face of any doubting civilians, but because I want you, my brothers and sisters in arms, to know your service IS special, I want you, sons and daughters of those departed service members who have acted on the orders of this nations leaders, to know that service meant something, MEANS something. To the families who supported your veteran, thank you, having seen a service member that has support at home, versus a service member who does not, I can tell you a supporting network of friends and family truly are a combat multiplier. I also wanted to say this, to my fellow vets, Shakespeare was right: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me, shall be my brother" . Our story is a collective story, that we share in, we revel in - truly your story is my story and mine yours. How many veterans share a story, and based on our collective understanding, its like we are actually reliving our own experience as we hear it. It has been said, there is nothing that can compare to service anywhere in the civilian world, and it is true. Finally, I want to thank those who I have had the absolute privilege of leading, it truly was an honor. I only hope you got as much from me, as I got from you. Happy veterans day folks!"
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