Western Railroad Discussion > What is a Vet?

November 11th, Veterans Day.

Thank you to all who have served, all who are serving and especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice keeping America free!

WHAT IS A VET?

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a
jagged scar, a certain look in their eye.

Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone
together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of
inner steel: a soul forged in the refinery of adversity.

Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America
safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking.

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating
two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run
out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose
overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic
scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to
sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another -or-
didn't come back at all.

He is the Quantico drill instructor that has never seen combat - but
has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and
gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's
backs.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals
with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass
him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose
presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the
memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with
them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now
and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who
wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the
nightmares come.

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".

—- Remember, November 11th is Veterans Day.

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One fine man often stated...

"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 protester to burn the flag."

Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC Veteran



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/12 10:30 by Trainphotog.

That last part goes deep...right to the heart.

Amen and Amen

A Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including, their life.

PHall nails it:
All veterans gave some years of their/our lives to the service of the country. Depending on timing and luck some had it easy (me) and some were asked to do a lot more, but we were all members of a fabulous team that over the centuries has preserved the United States of America.
I am proud of two aspects of railroading now:
The RR industry is reaching out to hire veterans.
The RR Retirement Board credits military service time.

We cannot say enough GREAT THINGS about our veterans. I look back on my life and wished I had joined up when I had the chance. Now, I am simply an older citizen. However, I am cognizant of two things that I will ALWAYS respect: The veteran who died to give me my freedoms and the Saviour, Jesus Christ who died for my soul.

If you can read, thank a teacher. If you're reading it in English, thank a vet!

pilotblue Wrote:
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> If you can read, thank a teacher. If you're
> reading it in English, thank a vet!


This statement really, really applies to the UK!