Veteran's Day 2011

I run through my usual tropes below - but I want to make a special point this year to thank our Vietnam-era veterans - like, Bill, V29, Grumpy, Concrete Bob, 11B40, et.al., who made it their mission to ensure that the current generation of brand-new veterans would have a completely different homefront experience than they had.  And to thank all the others, veteran and non-veteran, who have worked to make sure that while America was at the Mall (at least back when we had the money for that) some Americans besides those directly impacted also knew we were at war.  



That graphic is from the Facebook page of SFC Kevin Doe.

Today is my day. Today is SWWBO's day.  Today is Dusty's day. Today is Bill's day. Rich's, Neffi's, Bloodspite's, Sanger's, Jim B's, Mike L's, Jim C's, John S', V29's, Sergeant B's, 1SG Keith's, Oldloadr's, 74's, CAPT H's, a certain Canadian Gunner who shall remain nameless, a certain Redleg Captain who shall remain nameless, RetRsvMike's, the 'Phibian's, Lex's, Matty's, Chuck's, Fishmugger, John(NTA), Heartless Libertarian's, Kevin's, Grumpy's, Grimmy's,USMC Steve's, Marine6's, Saker's, Quartermaster's, Spike's, La Migra's, etc - the list is seemingly endless, and I know I didn't list everybody - feel free to add yourself in the comments. That would be a nice touch, actually.

This is the third year since 1947 that the Auld Soldier flipped from sharing this day with me to sharing Memorial Day with *his* father.
Though it grew from Armistice Day, and is Remembrance Day to our Anglosphere buddies, it is *not* my Grandfather's day. Daddy Jack, a soldier of the Great War, well, his day now is Memorial Day.  As is it with his son.  That's why well-intentioned cartoons like this one make me and many of my fellow vets squirm - though I know from comments in past years, there are those of you who disagree with me on this.  The words are fine - it's the imagery that grates:



Today we mostly celebrate the living. The brand-new vets in Basic Training through to the survivors.  Those who "saw the elephant," as Civil War soldiers were wont to say to those whose service required no similar animal husbandry.  We honor the dead in May.

Oh, heck,  today we Veterans honor the dead, too. We can't help it. The bonds of combat soldiery are tightest because of those who went with us but didn't come back, they took the low road while we took the high. Most of us have an "absent companion" or four that we drink to, when the time is right. Today it will be right. Technically I I have 17,19 21 that I will drink to. 17,19 21 little shots of tequila. My habit is to spread 'em out between Veteran's Day and Memorial Day. Before he shifted holidays, the Auld Soldier didn't even try to do that. If he toasted all his ghosts, his liver would rip itself out of his belly and run. I rather expect Bill has a similar problem.

I honor my favorite veteran: SWWBO. The rest of you can take your positions after that. I honor my two favorite people who sweated out what their veterans were off doing: Mom and my sister. Well, Mom has also moved to the Memorial Day slot, dammit.  That still twinges too,
We have bonds, we veterans. Bonds that sometimes our closest family don't understand. Why does Grampa Joe keep bailing that wino out of trouble? Because that wino lost two fingers tossing a grenade out of a two-man fighting position during a vicious night fight on Guadalcanal, that's why. Because that stranger that Dad greets like a long lost brother once a year is, in fact, a long lost brother, who shared the exhilaration of the night combat drop on Point Salines. Because the quiet guy you've never seen before extracted your Dad's best friend's body from a helicopter crash in Mogadishu by cutting off his legs - so that no man would be left behind. Because that guy over there negotiated with Aideed to get the legs back.

Because that woman sitting at the table comforted many of your grandfather's friends as they lay dying, the last thing they ever saw, or heard. Then there's *that* woman at the local emporium downtown who earned a Silver Star attacking outnumbered into a jihadi ambush and her team survived because of her leadership.  Because that janitor in your school spent a long night on LZ X-Ray, cut off from his unit, keeping his squadmates alive. Because that Bank President looking at ties over there drove an AMTRAC across the reef at Tarawa under a withering fire so your uncle wouldn't have to slog in on foot, fighting both the sea and the Japanese. That man in Lions with your great-uncle? Your uncle helped him walk out from the Frozen Chosin.

Because that man serving turkey at the shelter helped Uncle Bob deal with Esther's "Dear John" letter, that arrived right before "Big Push." And him, that guy playing with his grandkids, who always seems to have some candy for you... well, he's a "Glow-worm," a fighter pilot who jumped from a burning aircraft after he lost that dogfight with the Bf-109, and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp - and survived the forced marches to the west, as the germans were falling back from the onslaught of the Red Army. His buddy? The wingman whose 'six' was being covered. We are also a maudlin, sentimental group. We honor ALL of our veterans. Especially the ones who didn't really volunteer, but would and did give their lives freely for their brothers in arms, too.

We have the bond of shared experiences, whether it's Basic, Jump School, the JRTC, Graf, Pahakuloa, Camp Red Cloud, Hof, Okinawa, Tay Ninh, Vung Tau, Suwon, Phenix City, El Paso, Biloxi, FOB Speicher, Fallujah, Al Anbar, the convoys across the Atlantic, storming over a beach, busting bunkers, hunkering under artillery, rescuing families caught in the middle, finding that cask of cognac and... and the list goes on and on and on. And your newest veterans - they have their traumas, too.  But we learned from our Vietnam brothers, in fact, our Vietnam brothers lead the way, working to make sure they get welcomed home as they should be.  And that those among 'em, get taken care of as needs be.

I am proud of my place among you, you men and women who simply did their duty. Who didn't run. Who came when asked. I am among giants. But my thoughts will be with the newest wave of veterans.


Oh - and *that* is a good cartoon for Veteran's Day! Especially if you happen to be near me and are a Hawt Chick. Just sayin'...   I can be found working at the Rotary Club's Veteran's Day Pancake breakfast, where disabled vets eat free.  And we'll take your word on it.  If you're going to lie for pancakes... you've got problems!

Oh, and you *know* Bill is going to roamin' the Ukraine looking for Hawt Chicks to hug this Veteran's Day...