Yesterday I had to go to my the lab to have some blood drawn for some routine tests.There was a different lab tech there. Instead of the young, handsome Tony there was Toni – a little white haired woman who was bustling about the lab. As she was getting me ready I noticed a tiny pin on her scrub top – it said “Mother of an Army man” (not a precise paraphrase but close). I commented on how proud she must be of him and how she must worry. She stopped everything and tears, about to spill over, let me see how deep that worry was. She said, “There’s never a moment that I don’t feel the fear of losing him.” Her son is an Army Ranger and always at the edge of danger.
We forget, sometimes, what the cost of freedom is. It’s easier to think about those in the military if we don’t have to get personal and put a face on them. It’s easier if we don’t see the worry lines and frightened eyes of the moms and dads. It’s easier if we just go about our daily business and forget that we have men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Today is the day to remember them – all of them. They are our heroes.
Last week the war was brought home to us and we saw men and women die. We were shocked – yes, because it was on our own turf but also because we had to face the fact that soldiers die – every day. War is not nice. General William Tecumseh Sherman said, “War is Hell.” and Lt. Col. Dave Grossman expanded on that when he said
“I am sick and tired of war. Its glory is all moonshine.
It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard
the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for
blood,for vengeance, for desolation.
War is hell.”
From “On Killing” by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
Today is Veteran’s Day – the day we honor our service men and women. It started at the end of WWI. The Armistice treaty was signed with the Germans “at the eleventh hour of eleventh day of eleventh month of 1918.” Originally called Armistice Day, the holiday has been expanded to include all veterans.It is a legal holiday so many people will be off work.
It, like other holidays, has become a national shopping day and many will go out to buy. But the day is to honor the men and women who fought for this country so you CAN go buy. Don’t forget them.
Because this is The Self Improvement Blog, I have to ask those pesky questions. Let me make this up close and personal. Is there something that you would be willing to die for? Think about it.
Do you have passion enough for anything to die for it?
Your spouse?
Your children?
Your cause?
Your country?
Freedom?
The men and women we honor today have put lives on the line to keep our country free – for me and for you. Please don’t forget them.
sick and tired of war. Its glory is all moonshine.
It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard
the shrieks and groans of the wounded
