I probably wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for you. No, I don’t mean on the internet, I mean here, wherever I am at the moment. You’ve kept me safe, you’ve touched every part of my life…even when I didn’t notice. Those of you who came before me, those of you who served with me, and those who came after. I don’t have close friends who haven’t come from your ranks because I cherish this brotherhood in which you’ve allowed me to become a tiny part. In my eyes, I haven’t measured up to the example you set for me centuries ago…and just yesterday. What you’ve accomplished over these few and long years is beyond anyone’s imagination. <\/p>\n
Those who don’t know you, don’t deserve to know you. Even when you stood on the peaceful fields of Germany during the peaceful war. When you stood on the deck of the behemoth floating on calm seas. When the landing zone beneath your feet was ringed with Southern pines. When the call that came in the middle of the night was just to hear your voice so that they knew where you were. When your enemy only pointed binoculars at you. When your death was just a persistent ringing in your ears that ended with the twist of a tiny yellow key. When your closest enemy was that over-torqued bolt that fought you as you stood on the tropics-heated concrete.<\/p>\n
You were always ready and always faithful. Our enemies trembled at the thought of facing you, yet their children held your hand and giggled while they chewed the candy you offered while thinking of your own family so far away.<\/p>\n
Memorial Day is for those of our friends who aren’t here, but this day, this Veterans’ Day, is your day. Those who don’t recognize today for what it is don’t deserve what you’ve sacrificed for them, but you sacrificed for them anyway.<\/p>\n
Thank you from me and my family, and welcome home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"