Veterans

I grew up in the sixties when veterans and Veterans Day were not honored. My father was in Medical School during WWII, and the war was over by the time he had to serve, which he did as a ship's physician on a cutter on weather patrol in the Atlantic and as a Public Health physician. His father served in WWI and WWII as a Coast Guard officer, but Veterans Day was not honored in our house.

As a student of military history, I came to learn of the reasons why November 11 was chosen as a day to remember our vets, and after learning the horrors faced by our soldiers in WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, I developed far more respect and thankfulness for their service. 

The closest I got to military service was to register for the draft and to watch the draft be eliminated the same year. 

I did work in the VA hospital system for a short time taking care of our sick vets. 

Now I have a Father-in-law who retired after service during the Korean and Vietnam wars and a nephew who, after having served two tours in Iraq, is moving up the ranks in the Army. 

This weekend, Pewsterspouse and I went to several rural cemeteries and placed American Flags on the graves of veterans at the behest of a local garden club. The garden club ladies are all elderly, and none had ever ventured to these cemeteries in the past. Some of the cemeteries were well kept, but others were not. We cleared away some weeds and trash, but we really needed a weed eater in some places. 

Little flags over forgotten graves are all well and good, but we need to honor our service people while they are still alive. 

Thank them for their service if you have the chance.