What is a Vet
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service:
a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye.
Others may carry the evidence inside them:
a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg -
or perhaps another sort of inner steel:
the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.
Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept
America safe wear no badge or emblem.
You can't tell a vet just by looking.
What is a vet?
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia
sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel
carriers didn't run out of fuel.
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose
overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the
cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.
She (or he) is the nurse who fought against futility and went
to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.
He is the POW who went away one person and came
back another - or didn't come back AT ALL.
He is the Parris Island drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has
saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and
gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.
He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his
ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and
medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns,
whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever
preserve the memory of all anonymous heroes whose valor dies
unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket -
palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi
death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still
alive to hold him when the nightmares come.
He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a
person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the
service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so
others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness,
and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on
behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our
country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most
people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals
they could have been awarded or were awarded.
Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU."
* Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC
It Is The Soldier
It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
© Charles Michael Province, U.S. Army
2007-04-30 18:05:38 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
Wow...that was great, my grandfather is a vet and its moving to see people who really care about those who sacrificed everything so that we may live the lives we live today...amazing
2007-04-30 18:14:16 · answer #1 · answered by bv 2 · 5⤊ 1⤋
I have never read this but I am printing it for me to keep. Thank you so very much for posting this lovely writing. My father was a WW11 and Korean vet and Vietnam adviser.My son was in Saudi ans Iraq. You have brought tears to my eyes and may God always bless you.
2007-04-30 18:16:31 · answer #2 · answered by ♥ Mel 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Thank you and thank God for such words. Thank God for the suffering he endures every time one of his children are injured on whichever side of fight they are in. He feels all of our pains. Thank God for his forgiveness and thank God for allowing us to live on this side of the fight. Thank God for his son and our savior Jesus Christ.
2007-04-30 23:27:58 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
These particular words, I have not seen.
Though, I am witness to the effects, daily.
2007-04-30 18:21:37 · answer #4 · answered by Moneta_Lucina 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
SALUTE !
very inspirational words
Thanks for posting !
2007-04-30 18:17:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
I haven't seen these before but believe me I am passing them on. Thanks so much for posting them.
2007-04-30 18:25:01 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They should be applauded for their sacrifice. That is why they should be brought home with a hero's welcome. They deserve better than to continue to be killed because the president has another agenda.
Let's get them home...
2007-04-30 18:12:00 · answer #7 · answered by linus_van_pelt_4968 5 · 3⤊ 5⤋
yeah..it fits
2007-04-30 18:09:21 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
excellent I am going to post this around! thanks
2007-04-30 22:54:30 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋