My 26 days of Thanksgiving continues:
11. I am thankful for the men and women in our Armed Forces currently serving (and those who have served) to protect our nation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our family was not a military family until my younger brother went through ROTC at Stetson University and began an 11-year stint with the U.S. Army.
He retired as a Captain many years ago and while in the service designed an attachment for the Abrams tank which I believe, is still used today. I visited him at Fort Knox in Kentucky, saw armored tanks in their training drills and even saw then Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger there during a tank demonstration. I also visited his base in Kitzingen, Germany for a few weeks in the mid-1980s. While there, we went on a military tour to southern Italy which was a fabulous adventure. I will never forget standing in the middle of a military cemetery in Italy completely surrounded with all the white crosses marking graves. Photographs are little rectangles with corners so I was unprepared to see the thousands of white crosses as far as you could look in every direction.
This photo is in Italy. My brother is standing directly behind the Colonel.
My dear uncle served in World War II and was able to go to to Washington, DC last year on an Honor Flight with a group of veterans to see the WW2 Memorial there. It was a moment he treasured deeply especially going with his comrades from the service...a tearful time to be sure, but a proud moment for him to be with other men and women who could relate to his active duty in Europe. I was so happy that he had the opportunity to do this before he passed away.
I've watched the military movies as you probably have--Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, Behind Enemy Lines, to name a few--but I still cannot really imagine what life on the battlefield would be like. As a woman at my age I'll never know but I have deep empathy for those who have endured the stress and terror of actual confrontation with our enemies and especially those who have been injured.
I pray often for those who serve our country faithfully in the Armed Forces since they stand ready to defend the United States and protect us. Our only relative currently in the service is my nephew, age 28, an F-18 aviator for the U. S. Marines. He says he can't imagine being in any other occupation other than flying in the Marines. We pray for his safety often.
My brother and my husband and I always thank soldiers for serving our country when we are out and see them dressed in uniform. This often happens at airports, more over the holidays when soldiers often return home if they can. Usually they are surprised, but the words are welcome, I'm sure. I hope I see some today. If I don't, thank you so much for your faithful service to us and to our country.
No comments:
Post a Comment