OT- What is a Vet?

>>> 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 or corpsman 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, Sailor or Airman, 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".>> > >> > Remember November 11th is Veterans Day>> > >> > "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>> >>> >>>>>>

In honor of my Dad (WWII), my Step-Dad (WWI), my older brothers (Korea, Vietnam), my eldest son (Iraqi Freedom).

-- Budd Cochran

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Budd Cochran
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