He is the cop on the beat who spent six months
in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel
carriers didn't run out of fuel.
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber
than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a
hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the
38th parallel.
She (or he) is the nurse who fought against futility and
went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.
He is
the POW who went away one person and came back another, or didn't come back AT
ALL.
He is the Parris Island drill instructor who has never seen combat,
but has saved countless lives by turning young men into United States Marines.
He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals
with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the
ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The
Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must
forever preserve the memory of all anonymous heroes whose valor dies
unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket -- palsied now
and aggravatingly slow -- who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes
all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares
come.
He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being -- a person
who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country,
and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is
nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest,
greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each time you see someone who
has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most
people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have
been awarded or were awarded.
****** Two little words that mean a
lot, "THANK YOU."
It's the soldier, not the reporter, Who gave us our
freedom of the press.
It's the soldier, not the poet, Who gave us our
freedom of speech.
It's the soldier, not the campus organizer, Who gave
us our freedom to demonstrate.
It's the soldier, Who salutes the flag,
Who serves others with respect for the flag, And whose coffin is draped by the
flag, Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
****** Prayer for
our Servicemen
Lord, hold our troops in Your loving hands. Protect
them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts
they perform for us in our time of need. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our
Lord and Savior.
Amen.
****** When you receive this, please
stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops. There is nothing
attached...
Of all the gifts you could give a U. S. serviceman, prayer
is the very best one.
So, as we continue to pause to honor our brave heroic dead, let's pledge
support not just to those who died, but also to those vets who fought and made it home.
You are invited to use the silver send bar below to forward this
page dedicated to all the American Heroes, our Veterans, to all your friends
and family.
