What is a Vet?

[HawkerHurricane]

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 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.

He is the Paris 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, but keeps the supply lines full.

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 ountry, 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."

[Another Bill C.]

1. Nicely put.

My service time was during some peacetime years and I was never called on to put anything on the line. I received a great education and it was the foundation of some great career years.

But, when I see people referring to those guys who really did put everything on the line and when these people say, "so what?" I really see red.

There is nothing more low than the belittling of the contributions of Max Cleland, John Kerry, Wesley Clark, or any other serviceman who risked his life in the name of this country.

We should continue to expose the slackers, scum, and sleaze like Coulter and the White House Chickenhawks for the cowards they are.

[JitterbugPerfume]

2. Thank you

<smile>

[alwynsw]

4. Peacetime or during war, vets are vets

The knowing that you might be ordered to a war zone at any time is/should be sufficient to cause a little prideful chest swelling.

Let's not forget that all vets since WWII, particularly those who served between 1947 and 1989, have had to live with another constant; the knowledge that no matter what his/her duty station, that duty station was the bullseye for one or more nuclear weapons. That is enough to give any sane person pause.

[alwynsw]

3. Thanks for the post

You had me in tears.

(a grateful vet)

[HawkerHurricane]

7. It moves me, too.

Which is why I posted it.

[Don_G]

5. He's My Cousin

That earned 2 Silver and one Bronze Star in Vietnam who went in under fire to get his buddies out...and now spends his days putting shelves in GE Refrigerators and his nights swilling beer.

[HawkerHurricane]

8. He has earned the right

to 'swill' beer; I only ask that he not drink and drive.

[havocmom]

6. Celebrate Veterns Day on Election day too!

If you see a vet as you go into or out of your polling place, that is a good time to say thank you and offer your hand.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. And say, "I'm so appreciative of what you've done, I'm voting

dem so that you can get your benefits back."

Or maybe that isn't the time to go for political statements. I'm not sure. Certainly if they look like they're democrat (wearing a pin or something).

[HawkerHurricane]

9. Amazingly enough...

I recieved a personal message from a DUer (who I shall not identify) who took offense for my 'sexism'. When this was originally written, there were supposed to be no females in combat, and few in the military at all. Of course, that has changed, and I salute and render honors to the female soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who now serve on the front line alongside the men.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. When a vet dies and gets a military funeral,

what are the words they say when they present the flag to the family?

Always chokes me up terribly, and I'd like to put the words in with my dad's flag.

Well, actually, Taps and the rifle shots get me really choked up, but the flag presentation doesn't help any.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

13. With thanks from a grateful nation...

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. What's the whole speach, though?

Seems I've heard them include the vet's name, maybe the name of the wife who is receiving the flag, and some other stuff.

[JohnKleeb]

12. Thats beautiul

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. He's also the gay ordained minister serving you Eucharist

who served duty in Desert Storm.

(friend of mine fits that bill)

Anyone who says gays and/or liberals hate america and hate the military and hate Jesus - ooh, man, that pisses me off. My gay ordained minister friend loves God, loves his country, and would like to kick all their asses. In a Christian way, of course. But he could do it. :-)

[JohnKleeb]

16. I read a first hand account by a gay Vet of WWII in Terkel's the good war

The veteran is your grandfather, who talks about the days gone by, who you still see a young man in.
Right wingers are stupid man, vets come from all walks of life, sexualities, skin colors, ethnic backgrounds, perspectives, etc.

[HawkerHurricane]

19. A salute to the chaplain

and who cares what his 'orientation' is.

[nini]

17. A few months before my dad Died while he was in the hospital

I was visiting him and a Filipina nurse came in and somehow he got into his army days during WWII and how he was stationed in the Pacific.

This nurse asked him if he was in the Phillipines which he answered yes .. with tears in her eyes she hugged him and thanked him for all he did there and told her how US troops saved her family after her grandfather was forced to watch the enemy kill part of his family before his eyes.

My dad bless his heart teared up and said no one had ever thanked him before for his service. It meant the world to him to see all the hell he went through and the sacrifices he made were indeed appreciated even 50 years later.

Thanks Dad... I sure do miss you and I too am very thankful for all you did for all of us.

[CanuckAmok]

18. He is the 21y.o. Peacekeeper holding 700 years of ethnic hatred at bay....

...with only a firm hand and a Croatian phrasebook.

Why the heck don't we have a 'saluting' smiley here at DU, huh?

[HawkerHurricane]

20. I believe this was written

shortly after Desert Storm (Gulf/Shell War I). As I said above, no offense intended to those left out.

[CanuckAmok]

23. No, no offense taken at all...

I like it alot...just adding my .02 from personal experience.

I could also add "He is the Wellington navigator, so elated after completing his last mission, he doesn't see the still-spinning propeller about to take his life", in honour of a friend of my Father-in-Law's.

[alwynsw]

21. He's also:

my dad who flew as a bomber pilot over Europe in WW II through curtains of flak while depending on the gunners to keep the Nazi fighters off of them and depending on his bombadier to deliver the ordnance on target to help end the war a little sooner.

my stepfather who spent nearly 4 years on a PT boat in the South Pacific making boring mails runs between islands and spendingdays and night in sheer terror during both offensive actions and defensive actions against steel hulled warships while doing his part in a piece of floating plywood.

my father-in-law who was also on PT boats in the South Pacific doing what my stepfather did.

my great uncles who fought in the trenches in WW I, braving mustard gas, bombs, and anything else the enemy hurled their way. Two came home. One is forever far from home in the cold soil of France.

my great grandfather who was at Chattanooga, Bull Run, and Appomattoxx.

my gggggrandfather who fought for freedom in the Carolinas in the Revolution.

Thanks for the opportunity to give them a little bit of the recognition they derseve for their sacrifices.

[BlueCollar]

22. Thanks HH

from this vet...

and thanks to all who posted on this thread...

these days it means a lot.

[alwynsw]

24. kick

This should be required reading for all.

[bearfan454]

25. I'm a vet.

Excellent post.