Soldiers

Veteran’s Day is not just a day off from work for some people. It's not a day to complain because banks and government offices are closed. It's not a day to bitch about a war you disagree with. It's not a day to bitch about the people who complain about the war you support. It is not about war. Veteran’s Day is about sacrifice. It is about heroes. It is about Freedom. Veteran’s Day is about loving others more than yourself.

This day is about men and women who leave their families behind to protect people they mostly don't know. It is about idealistic young men and women, barely past childhood, who believe that the greater good is more important than a single life. Veteran’s Day is about parents who have lost their children and children who have lost their parents in the effort to protect the freedom we enjoy.

Veteran’s Day is about being grateful to those who make the sacrifices that the rest of us can't or won't. To say thanks to those who fight for the innocent and defend our liberty. Veteran’s Day is about the Veterans.

"Here rests in honored glory, an American soldier known but to God." --inscription on the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery

THE THINGS THAT MAKE A SOLDIER GREAT
written by Edgar Guest

The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die,

To face the flaming cannon's mouth nor ever question why,

Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips red,

The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,

The grass plot where his children play, the roses on the wall:

'Tis these that make a soldier great. He's fighting for them all.

'Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make a soldier brave;

'Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may wave;

For soldiers never fight so well on land or on the foam

As when behind the cause they see the little place called home.

Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run,

You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.

What is it through the battle smoke the valiant soldier sees?

The little garden far away, the budding apple trees,

The little patch of ground back there, the children at their play,

Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church of gray.

The golden thread of courage isn't linked to castle dome

But to the spot, where'er it be — the humblest spot called home.

And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely there

And homesick soldiers far away know spring is in the air;

The tulips come to bloom again, the grass once more is green,

And every man can see the spot where all his joys have been.

He sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call,

And only death can stop him now — he's fighting for them all.

Dear Veterans,

Thank You.

Love,

U.S.