To those who served and serve: Thank You
Category: Kitchen Sink...
Posted Thursday, November 11, 2004 at 12:57 PM [GMT-6]

Once a year isn't enough, but I wan't to express my gratitude to the men and women who have served and are continuing to serve in our armed forces. In particular, I want to single out:

• My dad, a WWII vet and recipient of two Purple Hearts, who carries fragments from a German sniper's bullet in his arm. Only in the past few years has he begun to speak of what he experienced.


• My father-in-law, who told us last night that all he wanted for breakfast this morning was a helping of powdered eggs and some spam. He's the only guy I know who served both on horseback as part of the mounted cavalry and in the air as a navigator aboard a B-17 bomber.


• My cousin, who was drafted and fought in Viet Nam. He returned a changed man, in ways both mysterious and a bit troubling, further proof that those of us who never served in this way can't really understand the sacrifices made on our behalf.

May God bless each one, and may He continue to bless America.