The writer composed the attached video/song after a true experience that took place. Please take a moment to see it and reflect. A huge "Thank You" to all our veterans. Christy A Pittance of Time

Thanks Christy for bringing all of our attention to this "day"...Lest we forget ...I will have a candle burning all day in front of my fathers picture who did fight in WW11, and remember all who parished during those horrific times.

My ex A, also the father of my son, is a Purple Heart recipient after being a part of the Marine Corps Peace Keeping Mission in Beirut in 1984.  Only a handful of his friends survived that suicide bomber truck blast on their building.  My ex barely survived.  We were engaged to be married at that time.  I remember him with love and honor today serving our military and our country.  I am proud of him for serving and I want my son to be too.

Needless to say, when he returned home from that Mission permanently wounded and given an Honorable Discharge is when the drinking began.  He wanted to die out there, being trapped under a crumbled concrete building with your dead friends trapped right next to you for hours and hours, and one friend decapitated...yes, I think a big part of him wanted to die that day to not remember the horror of it, because when he came home he could never swallow the honor of surviving it, that Purple Heart might as well have been something you paid 25 cents for in a gumball machine...he never got over the "why did I live" feelings.  Lots of guilt. Sad, so very sad.

(((((((Christy))))))))),

Great post.  I remembered to thank the veterans I know who served our country.  I love the first part of Montgomery Gentry's new song "Something to be Proud of:"

There's a story that my daddy tells religiously
Like clockwork every time he sees an opening
In a conversation about the way things used to be
Well I'd just roll my eyes and make a bee-line for the door
But I'd always wind up starry-eyed, cross-legged on the floor
Hanging on to every word
Man, the things I heard

It was harder times and longer days
Five miles to school, uphill both ways
We were cane switch raised, and dirt floor poor
'Course that was back before the war
Yeah, your uncle and I made quite a pair
Flying F-15's through hostile air
He went down but they missed me by a hair
He'd always stop right there and say...

That's something to be proud of
That's a life you can hang your hat on
That's a chin held high as the tears fall down
A gut sucked in, a chest stuck out
Like a small town flag a-flyin'
Or a newborn baby cryin'
In the arms of the woman that you love
That's something to be proud of

I, too, in my family have many veterans for whom I am so proud to be associated with -- whether they served during combat or peace.  My Dad, the deceased alcoholic in my life, served in the Navy during WWII on the USS Bunker Hill, a carrier that was hit by kamikazes.  Yet he never spoke of his day during the service -- something a lot of WWII veterans do.  My soon-to-be ex is a Marine Corps veteran who I am proud of also.

love yas,

Maria

I think too, we don't realize just how much some give. The terror can haunt them their whole lives. My cousin's husband, who was a Vietnam Vet..joined the army at 17. I can't even imagine what he saw there and what it did to his young mind. But I do know he carried it inside for over 30 yrs., never speaking of it to anyone, not even my cousin, his wife of 19 yrs. He lived everyday of his life after he got home trying to forget that horror. He gave back by being one of a class of fifteen Paramedics ever in the United States (1976). He had taken life and done his best to give it back. The police showed at my cousin's door one morning last summer with the news that he had taken his life in a motel room, no longer suffering from what had tortured him for 30+ years. Christy

-- Edited by Christy at 16:53, 2005-11-11

We never really understand the sacrifice our vets make to keep us free. Men and women have both served. My father and his 3 brothers were in WWII at the same time. That was quite a sacrifice for any family. My A also served in the marines. I am so very proud of our soldiers old and young. I wore my patriotic ribbon pin today and my flag hangs everyday. Thanks for the reminder. To all of the vets out there, from the bottom of my heart: Thank you and we love you. Live strong, Karilynn

Thanks Christy for remembering our veterans. I went to see my brother after I read the posts. He is a Vietnam veteran. He started telling me stories about his experiences in the war. Some I had never even heard before. I got the feeling that he just needed some one to hear his stories. I went to both websites posted here. Poignant to say the least. My oldest son prepares to deploy to Iraq for the third time on December 1. I support them all. We are a world at war. Pray for peace.

Nancy