Thank You Veterans (11-12-07)

During church today, the pastor asked for all the veterans to stand and to tell the congregation about when, where and with whom they did serve. I was surprised to see so many people stand, people I have now known now for more than a year, never suspecting that they had served, or in many cases, fought for our way of life.

I also took notice of the wide range of experience among this small group of veterans. The first man to speak had served the United States Navy in the South China Sea in the early to mid 1960’s. The second man had served with the air force in 1945 and was stationed in England. The third was a member of the United State Marine Corp, serving from 1990-1994. The fourth saw time in the south pacific from 1942-1946, and the fifth informed us that he had been a paramedic in Korea. Finally, the last venerable gentleman had served states-side in the mid 1950’s.

This last veteran reminded me of my own father who, upon graduating from Baker University, was drafted into the army where he served in the states. I have never before considered him to be a veteran, as it was explained to me that dad had no choice. He was drafted, he served the minimum time required, and he left at the first opportunity.

However, he was almost sent to fight in Korea, and the officer who saved him from this fate ended up being a life-long friend and mentor. He was one of the prime reasons my father eventually became a doctor.

As I think about Veterans and Veterans Day, I realize that I do actually know several. I have been told that I am distantly (very distantly) related to Robert E. Lee. In addition, my grandfather on my mother’s side was a distinguished army surgeon who was assigned to a secret airplane testing base in Florida to tend to test pilots when the experimental planes they flew invariably crashed.

I also have an uncle who was in the armed services, and my father-in-law served in the United States Navy.

Today, though, I discovered that I knew a lot more veterans than I ever realized. Connecting familiar faces to our military simply made me more thankful for their service, for their sacrifice, and for their humility.

Currently, at the grade school, we have several children with a parent fighting overseas. We write them letters and display their pictures, and we use words like “bravery” and “hero.”

I can’t imagine what these parents must be going through, missing their spouses and their children and their lives. I can’t imagine the things they must have to deal with everyday and it definitely puts our routine struggles and our daily hardships into perspective.

Basically, we have it good. Our jobs allow us to spend time with our families and no one is asking us to put ourselves into danger. Our lives are generally safe, secure, and filled with abundant freedoms..

We can thank our veterans for the luxury of our daily lives. They have been protecting the American way of life for many, many years, and they still are fighting for us, even as we take a moment to honor their service.

Thank you, veterans. Thank you all.