Veteran's Day Tribute

It wasn't long ago that my children's grandfather's and uncle would be pleasantly surprised by a telephone call from my kids. As young as they were, I made them make the call every Veteran's Day and say, "Thank you for fighting for my freedom." The gesture was a little overwhelming each year because sadly, it was usually the only call those special Veterans had received and they didn't expect it. As time has gone on and my father passed away, I will admit, that I've lapsed in my patriotic duty to thank the Veterans. But something this year really hit me as a positive effect of social media. Today, on my facebook pages, it is overwhelming to see how many people really do appreciate our country's finest. I've read about people thanking 100+ year old Veterans, Veterans from several wars, Veterans who gave up their legs, their arms and often their lives so that we, their fellow Americans can live in our country in freedom.

It saddens me so much to watch our country bicker. We are so divided on many things, but yet, if you really look at it from a macro view, because of those brave Americans, we are strongly United. We may hate Obama. We may have hated Bush. Half of us agree with everything going on now, half of us don't but in the end, we are ALL Americans. We all speak the same language, we all worship the God we choose, we all have the ability to use our ingenuity to earn a living - even if it's not the living we necessarily want right now - we have the right and ability to earn money. We all have the right to disagree with each other without a terrorist faction threatening to kill us if we disagree. We get into verbal wars with each other, but no guns are brought into Congress. No bombs in the Senate. We argue. ALOT. But when push comes to shove, we are all Americans.

Alot of wars for a peaceful nation
Our Revolutionary War veterans assured that we would have these rights. Our Civil War veterans fought to preserve our unity. Our World War I and II vets defended us from foreign enemies. Our Korean vets - sorry - don't know much about Korea other than what I learned from M*A*S*H and that my father-in-law was stationed in San Francisco. Our Vietnam vets taught us that they could follow the orders of their government, fight bravely and face unspeakable rejection when they returned home while retaining their dignity and gaining their honor as we grew up and stopped blaming them. Our Desert Storm vets gave us a new found courage in the first war many of us would remember. We'll never forget those blessed scud missles. Iraq and Afghanistan vets are fighting to protect us from an enemy we truly don't understand.

For a peaceful nation, we certainly have been in our share of wars. Interestingly, only one was Civil. I know I left a couple out, but I think I made the point. When we thank our Veterans, do we really think about what they have done or are doing for us? It sounds like rhetoric sometimes when we say, they are fighting for our freedom, but think about the alternatives. Whether or not we agree with the current war is irrelevant. Most of us commoners do not have the inside Intelligence that our military leaders have. It's easy to play armchair quarterback when thousands of lives are not being held in the balance by our hands. It's easy for us to get a tiny bit of information and make a vast and far reaching decision. Just for a moment, let's imagine what would happen if our soldiers are defeated in Afghanistan. I don't mean withdraw - I mean wiped out. It happened in biblical times. What if it happens tomorrow. Our country would become completely vulnerable to any other military force in the world. Which one would you choose?

We can complain about our government. We can complain about our president, but I ask again, which country would you prefer take over? China? I hear they have a pretty strong military. Any of the muslim countries? I hear they are pretty staunch in their religious beliefs. Which country would be better than ours if our military fails us?

Could we be turning a corner?
I'm feeling a slight amount of hope for our government with the process the health care reform bill is going through. I don't know if the end result will be good or bad for the American people. I really don't. But what I'm encouraged by is the fact that some Democrats jumped party lines because they wanted to do what they believed was for the good of ALL the people. Not just one party or the other. Until the abortion issue took front and center, did you know that most Catholics were Democrats? It's true. Look it up. That's why JFK was so wildly popular among the Catholics. Not just because he was one, but because he was a democrat, and so were they. Our country has become warped, but I think that the ice melted just a little tiny bit over the past couple of weeks. In the paragraph above, I asked you to imagine the unspeakable. Now, I ask you to imagine what the world would be like if our elected leaders did what was right for the people instead of the politics.

Communication Now and Then
So, now I have to tie a PR concept to this blog. I guess, the closest I can come is to give an official nod to social media. I truly hope Veterans everywhere are reading the wonderful comments being posted. I also want to reference the unparalleled ability to keep in touch and know what is happening with our loved ones over seas. A mouse click. A text message. A facebook or myspace contact. It's all so easy now.

I will end with this memory of me being 4 years old and my big brother Chip was in Vietnam. We had a telephone conversation with him and everyone was so excited. I was very young, but I do remember this.

"Hi Colleen. Over."
"Hi Chip, when are you coming home. Over."
"Soon, I hope. Over."

He did. we met him at the airport. For some reason when his plane came in and everyone ran to greet him, I felt that it was my responsibility to gather everyone's coats and carry them so that no one stole them. So when my brother came in from Vietnam, I was carrying the coats.

These days we don't talk very often. He's not much of an email or facebook person, but I hope and pray that he knows how much I love him and am proud to say that he was a brave soldier in the Vietnam war and received a purple heart. Thanks Chip. And thanks to all Veterans. Over.