Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day. It is a day we take time to Thank ALL the veterans that have served and are currently serving in the armed forces. We remember the sacrifices that they made and the sacrifices made by their families.

There are many who live their lives as if no fighting was going on. I admit, I was one. Until my cousin Jake went off to war. Then my brother-in-law Allen was deployed and it really hit home.

These young men left their girlfriends in order to do what was right.

They postponed educational opportunities in order to serve their country.

They risked their lives.

Now, you may or may not agree with the current war in Iraq. And you may argue about the strategies that are or are not being done in Afghanistan. And you may believe that all war is wrong and there is never a good reason to fight. But today isn’t the day to argue about the merits of war.

Today is the day to realize that, because men and women have been willing to sacrifice what they may want in order to serve the nation, we are free. We can speak freely. We can believe freely. We have so much in this country that we take for granted. Sure the system isn’t perfect, but we don’t worry about bombs falling on our homes at night. We don’t worry about being stoned if we show our ankles in public. We send our sons and daughters off to be educated. We grab our guns and go out and get our venison. We get to keep all our fingers when we vote.

All because of the selfless sacrifices made by some of our fellow citizens.

Today is the day when we stand as one nation and say “THANK YOU!”

My personal “Thank you” goes out to: Allen Komarinski, Jake Komarinski, David Hering, Alan Hering, Chris De Beaucourt, Rick Shinkle, Patrick Kerbin, Betty Ruschmeier, and Steve Ruschmeier.

(For all my Engrish friends out there - Per Wikipedia: The holiday is commonly printed as Veteran's Day or Veterans' Day in calendars and advertisements. While these spellings are grammatically acceptable, the United States government has declared that the attributive (no apostrophe) rather than the possessive case is the official spelling.[2] ^ Sherry, Kristina (2007-11-09). "Apostrophe sparks Veterans Day conundrum". Columbia Missourian. http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2007/11/09/apostrophe-sparks-veterans-day-conundrum/.)