Images for Memorial Day

I was never in the military. I have however, worked closely with many fine men and women in uniform in our service and some in the service of our allies. My uncles fought in World war II both in Europe and the Pacific. My brother was injured in Vietnam while serving with the First Marines. My step son and my nephew both have been in Iraq twice and my step-son is preparing to go to Afghanistan.

One might ask, "So what does that make you?" That makes me a very grateful citizen of the United States and a proud nephew, brother, uncle, and step-dad. I could pretend that I know what it's about since I flew as a technical representative on fleet air recon flights, but that would be an insult to the people that really do that work. I flew maybe a total of one hundred hours with the squadrons training the crews on new systems. I didn't fly real missions. I know what those men and women do on real missions and I didn't do it. I was just close enough to understand the courage that they have.

Then one could ask, "Well then what makes you qualified to write anything about the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform if you have never done it yourself?" My answer is that it is because I didn't have to do it that I need to express my appreciation to the people that stepped up. It is because of them that I have had the choice. It is because of them that I wake up in my nice soft bed. It is because of them that I can criticize my government out loud should I choose to.

From the first brave soldiers that faced a vastly superior force at Lexington and Concord, and then suffered through that brutal winter at Valley Force, to the thousands that lay dead on the battle fields of the Civil War. Each of those young lives was filled with hopes and dreams. They were proud and afraid. They marched for many miles in heavy wool uniforms carrying a heavy pack and a weapon only to have their lives end at places like Shiloh, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg.

So many have endured so much for us that it is hard to make the words thank you mean what they should. I have tried to imagine peering out from a dirt trench into "No Man's Land" waiting for the signal to rush into the barbed wire and mustard gas, or hiding behind the floating body of a fallen comrade as I fought my way onto Normandy Beach. The pain, the exhaustion, and the physical and emotional strain can't really ever be understood by someone like me.

I saw my brother come back from Vietnam. I see my step-son and my nephew return from war. They all show the same quiet strength. They did what they had to do and came home. It sounds simple but theirs is the tradition of men and women going all the way back to Lexington. The rest of us can only humbly thank them for their service and see to it that they are all treated with the highest respect when they come home.

This Memorial Day take a moment and open up your mind. Imagine yourself in the ranks of the Continental Army shivering at Valley Forge. Imagine yourself exhausted from constant fighting as wave after wave of rebels hits your line in Gettysburg. Imagine No Man's Land. Imagine Normandy, and imagine rolling through the streets of an Iraqi town knowing that an IED could explode any minute. Form those images in your mind and then ask yourself, can we ever thank our veterans enough?