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Twenty-one years ago, just a week and a half after exchanging wedding vows, I waved my husband off to training at Ft. Gordon, in Augusta, GA. One year later -- and it astounds me it's been twenty years, now -- I waved goodbye to him and the entire 52nd Engineering Battalion out of Ft. Carson, CO, on their way to Saudi Arabia, and a tiny country no one had even heard of prior to August, 1990: Kuwait. After Operation Desert Storm came a year at Ft. Carson, then 15mos. in Korea, and then another three years active duty here in Kentucky. Doug did four years in the National Guard after that.
My maternal grandfather served in the army during WWII. My father served in the Air National Guard. My mother spent 36 years working for the Veterans Administration, now known as the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. The first job I ever had was doing volunteer service for the VA hospital in Phoenix, AZ -- I worked in the library there, and took a book cart around to the different floors, bringing books to those who couldn't come to us.
The military's "popularity rating" rises and falls with regularity, reflecting the mood of the politicians and the public. Some wars we've been involved in, the public couldn't support strongly enough; others, the public seemed to forget that soldiers -- the common enlisted man doing the grunt work -- have orders to follow, even when they're not popular or easy to do.
I want to offer a great big THANK YOU to everyone who has served our country, whether through active duty, reserves/National Guard, or as the loved one of someone serving. Thank you for your time, for your sacrifices, for your love of our nation. Thank you for the freedoms you continue to safeguard for us, and for fighting for those freedoms on behalf of those unable to do so themselves.
Happy Veterans Day to all those serving and all who have served.
My maternal grandfather served in the army during WWII. My father served in the Air National Guard. My mother spent 36 years working for the Veterans Administration, now known as the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. The first job I ever had was doing volunteer service for the VA hospital in Phoenix, AZ -- I worked in the library there, and took a book cart around to the different floors, bringing books to those who couldn't come to us.
The military's "popularity rating" rises and falls with regularity, reflecting the mood of the politicians and the public. Some wars we've been involved in, the public couldn't support strongly enough; others, the public seemed to forget that soldiers -- the common enlisted man doing the grunt work -- have orders to follow, even when they're not popular or easy to do.
I want to offer a great big THANK YOU to everyone who has served our country, whether through active duty, reserves/National Guard, or as the loved one of someone serving. Thank you for your time, for your sacrifices, for your love of our nation. Thank you for the freedoms you continue to safeguard for us, and for fighting for those freedoms on behalf of those unable to do so themselves.
Happy Veterans Day to all those serving and all who have served.
