He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.
Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU".
"It is the soldier, not the reporter, Who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, Who has given us the
freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag."
Father Denis Edward O'Brien/USMC
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.
Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU".
"It is the soldier, not the reporter, Who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, Who has given us the
freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag."
Father Denis Edward O'Brien/USMC
10 years ago if someone had told me that I would be an Army Wife picking up and moving our home every 2 years, struggling to learn this new Army language of endless acronyms, enduring months upon months of deployments, birthing a child without my husband by my side, being a single mom more than I would like, I would have told you that you were nuts. This is the girl who went away to college in West Virginia and after freshman year came right back home. I never like being far from the comforts of home, of family and friends, and I still don't.
You can't help who you fall in love with. There is that person out there who when you meet them, they make your heart skip a beat, the butterflies start flying in your stomach, and you just can't stop smiling. That's what happened the very first time I met Bryan, and still happens every time I see him.
He was an officer in the Army just out of OBC (Officer Basic Course, I told you it was a whole new language). We were both dating other people at the time, and please, he was in the Army, nothing I would ever involve myself with. Funny how life laughs at you when you think you have it all figured out.
Bryan was an Officer in the Army, and I fell in love with him. September 11 had just happened, and I don't think we all knew exactly what was going to happen. I knew that he would be leaving for Kuwait on a regular 6 month rotation and then he would be back. I didn't know that I would lose my job in Boston that I loved so much, I certainly didn't know that I would be offered a job in the city where Bryan was stationed in Columbus, GA, and I certainly didn't know that I would be moving down there without him there, and only knowing one other person.
Things happened, we were going to war and Bryan's brigade was first up on the deployment list. I had no idea what is was to marry someone in the Army, I didn't know what it was going to be like to send my brand new husband off to war, and yet I knew I had to do it. I loved him, he loved his career in the Army and we were one now.
Combat deployment number 4 is 25% complete, and each deployment it is harder for him to leave, and it's incredibly hard to say those final goodbyes before he gets on the plane. It is painful, heart wrenching, but you don't let it show. You know that the other person is dying on the inside too, but as soon as you both turn away and head in opposite directions you let the pain wash over you for 5 minutes, and then you pull it back together and start the countdown.
On this Veterans Day I pay homage to my husband and my best friend. He gives up so much to do what he loves, for the country that he loves, and the family that he loves. He is the veteran, and I am the wife who loves him.
You can't help who you fall in love with. There is that person out there who when you meet them, they make your heart skip a beat, the butterflies start flying in your stomach, and you just can't stop smiling. That's what happened the very first time I met Bryan, and still happens every time I see him.
He was an officer in the Army just out of OBC (Officer Basic Course, I told you it was a whole new language). We were both dating other people at the time, and please, he was in the Army, nothing I would ever involve myself with. Funny how life laughs at you when you think you have it all figured out.
Bryan was an Officer in the Army, and I fell in love with him. September 11 had just happened, and I don't think we all knew exactly what was going to happen. I knew that he would be leaving for Kuwait on a regular 6 month rotation and then he would be back. I didn't know that I would lose my job in Boston that I loved so much, I certainly didn't know that I would be offered a job in the city where Bryan was stationed in Columbus, GA, and I certainly didn't know that I would be moving down there without him there, and only knowing one other person.
Things happened, we were going to war and Bryan's brigade was first up on the deployment list. I had no idea what is was to marry someone in the Army, I didn't know what it was going to be like to send my brand new husband off to war, and yet I knew I had to do it. I loved him, he loved his career in the Army and we were one now.
Combat deployment number 4 is 25% complete, and each deployment it is harder for him to leave, and it's incredibly hard to say those final goodbyes before he gets on the plane. It is painful, heart wrenching, but you don't let it show. You know that the other person is dying on the inside too, but as soon as you both turn away and head in opposite directions you let the pain wash over you for 5 minutes, and then you pull it back together and start the countdown.
On this Veterans Day I pay homage to my husband and my best friend. He gives up so much to do what he loves, for the country that he loves, and the family that he loves. He is the veteran, and I am the wife who loves him.
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