Real Americans Thank and Honor Our Veterans

Last Friday I got the opportunity to see a ceremony that few people ever take the chance to see, a United States Army Ranger graduation.

My wife's cousin took his place as a Ranger last Friday and we couldn't be more proud. The stories he told about his training and school were probably just the tip of the iceberg. These guys experience pain, deprivation, and extremes that few of us could ever imagine. They do it to test themselves and out of love of their country. Praising them only makes many of them feel a little awkward. They see it as their job. Regardless, I am glad I got the chance to tell him how proud we all are of him.

We Americans never can thank these people often enough. Our cousin is one of the Army's newest Rangers and his wife serves in the 82nd Airborne. At some point he will serve as the tip of the spear, probably in Afghanistan. Only more danger and stress awaits. He won't get rich, but he will serve his country and know that he earned the right to be considered among the best of the best.

Last Monday the country took a day off. In our new era of warfare the enemy may fight the tip of the spear, but they also target the shaft, the hand that throws it, and even its place of manufacture. All of our veterans, living and past, deserve a prayer and a thank you, not just twice a year but every time they come to mind.

Last Monday I also remembered two veterans who passed. One grandfather served in New Guinea in the Army Air Force. The other served in the oft bloodied 36th Division that saw some of the toughest fighting in Europe. I never met him. All I have of him is a cigar box full of captured photographs and an old knife. I thought of a good friend of our family who landed at Normandy and has told a lot of colorful tales of fighting across Europe. You can often tell the guys who saw the worst; their stories are always humorous, never bloody. I remembered my stepfather who served in Vietnam.

Thank God for our veterans living and dead. Thank God for the sacrifices they made and continue to make every day. And thank the veterans. If you see one in uniform and you for whatever reason do not thank him or her personally, say a little prayer for the serviceman and the family that love him.