Remembrance/veterans Day

I never knew my namesake, but I do know he died in the trenches in WWI.

I never knew my wife's grandfather, but I know he died in Europe in 1944.

I remember my father in law, who joked that while he never served in a declared war, he did manage to get shot at a number of times, over the course of 30 years of military service.

I remember my uncle who served 25 years in the Canadian air force, many years in Germany.

I remember my neighbours growing up. One served in the Royal Canadian Navy on a corvette in the U Boat war in the North Atlantic. Another served in the local artillery unit, and he ended up in the far east in WWII. Neither of them liked to talk about it.

I remember my coworkers, who served, but thankfully never had to go into battle, but were prepared to do so.

I remember them, especially today on Rememberence Day.

At least two restaurant chains, Applebee's and Uno Grille, aren't charging vets or active duty for meals today. Just present an ID card. The Uno offer requires the purchase of an entree, a 'buy one, get the vet free' deal. I didn't see any such stipulation on the Applebee's offer, but sometimes we old soldiers don't see too well.

Other chains may also have similar offers; check your favorite's web site.

Edited - found a list here:

http://themilitarywallet.com/veterans-day-free-meals-and-discounts/

Hooters!

Each remembrance day I stand there with my own medals and know that each conflict that each medal represents has been more a case of economic necessity than true freedom. More often than not, the true reason, the very heart of the conflict in which I\we were involved, was never truly known.

But the soldiers of the Great War and WW2 fought for something far greater, that reached far beyond the call of money or economic stability and it is with grateful thanks and great humility coupled with pride and honour that I stand shoulder to shoulder on Remembrance Day with these men.

These men will never die.

For the post.

To all my fellow vets here on TR, thanks for your service.

For those wondering what it's all about, I hope this answers your question:

What is a Veteran?


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.

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 Quantico 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 the 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".

"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 the
freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag."

Father Denis Edward O'Brien/USMC