A Veteran’s Day Thank You

November 11, 2010

A Veteran’s Day Thank You

Good morning to each and every one of you on this glorious Veteran’s Day.

We have always been told that God works his wonders through mysterious ways. Throughout the history of our great nation this has always been true but became blatantly obvious in times of war and conflict.

I suggest that one of the mysterious ways that God has chosen to protect this great country is through His skilled use and direction of our military armed forces throughout history.

We posted a tribute to our Vietnam Vets a while back entitled "Before They Go" and in that moving and saddening tribute, we pointed out that we are losing Vietnam era vets at the rate of one veteran dying every 3.75 minutes. It went on to state that all Vietnam veterans could possibly be gone by 2015.

I do not want to seem disrespectful but all I have to say to the 2015 date is BULL BUNIONS!! We’ve already lost too many of our Jay brother’s and sisters. I do not want to lose any more. There are too many fences to mend and friendships to rekindle and broken hearts to put back together. There are grandchildren we need to see grow up and get married. There are as yet unseen great-grandchildren that we need to enjoy. We need to be busy letting each other know how much we care and appreciate one another before we let some calculated date get under our skins and ruin our futures.

I for one am not going down without a fight! Not only are those my words and thoughts, they are the words and thoughts of generations of American men and women who have proudly served their country in times of war and in times of peace. Never once hesitating to give their all to protect that which they loved so dearly.

Today, as a veteran myself, I salute our brothers and sisters who have served this great nation in her times of need. I give you my heartfelt thanks and appreciation. You will always hold a special place of honor within my heart.

Now as a tribute to all who have, or currently are serving, I offer up the following three videos. Video 2 and 3 are moving tributes to those who have served. Video 1 is a bit more controversial. If you do your research properly, you will find that there is no "official meaning" to the individual steps during the flag folding ceremony. But, like so many other things in our lives during times of great pain, we need reasons, we need a meaning for what has happened. The flag folding ceremony and the 21 gun salute are traditions that have developed throughout the history of our nation. However, many years ago, someone, perhaps a military Chaplain, created the "meanings of each flag fold" to comfort the survivors of military heroes.

Myself, I like meaning. As a younger man in 1992, I remember sitting through my fathers military funeral. Deep grief ran rampant throughout my body at the loss of someone so important and dear to me. But as the flag was removed from his coffin and the soldiers began to fold it slowly and deliberately, the chaplain recited the same step by step meanings contained within this video. Nothing could ever take away the pain of the loss of this great man who served in WWII and Korea and a lifetime in the Missouri National Guard. But, during this time of grief, the words of the chaplain sank deeply into my heart and somehow managed to push aside the feelings of loss and replace them with feelings of pride. Those feelings were so strong they raised me to my feet, and to my surprise, I found my hand raising into the position of salute. Those words may not have been official but they were what I needed and they were very fitting to the loss of this great warrior.

So today I give thanks to my God and to the millions of men and women who have served or are serving our country! Thank you with all of my heart!

In the meantime, may God protect us always. One Nation Under God, With Liberty and Justice for All!