On November 11, let us all remember our fallen. ---------- > From: Betty Briggs <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: Remembrance > Date: Wednesday, November 04, 1998 4:42 PM > > We, the genealogists, search through records, tramp through graveyards, > always seeking. We remember. This is in honor of some of those we > remember, both near and distant in time, especially my Ohio Valley > sailor. > If it angers you, please flame me personally. > > VETERANS DAY, 11 NOVEMBER 1998 > > Date: Monday, November 02, 1998 6:47 AM > Subject: Veterans: A reminder what this Nov 11th represents > > WHAT IS A VET? > > Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing > limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. > > Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone > together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another > sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of > adversity. > > Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept > America safe wear no badge or emblem. > > You can't tell a vet just by looking. > > What is a vet? > > She - or 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. > > 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 -or she- is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat > > but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account > people into Marines, and taught them to watch each other's backs. > > He -or she- is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons > and medals with a prosthetic hand. > > He -or she- 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 the 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 -or she-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 -or she- 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". > > Remember November 11th is "Veterans Day" > > "It is the soldier, not the reporter, > Who has given us freedom of the press. > It is the soldier, not the poet, > Who has given us freedom of speech. > It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, > Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. > It is the soldier, > Who salutes the flag, > Who serves beneath the flag, > And whose coffin is draped by the flag, > Who allows the protestor to burn the flag." > > Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC > > > > > ==== OHIO-VALLEY Mailing List ==== > OHIO VALLEY List Rules: No flames, on list roll calls, poems, jokes, ads, commercial or > other non genealogy posts. No virus warnings, hoax warnings or too good to be true > offers. If in doubt, send it to [email protected] with RE: Listowner > in the subject line. A complete list of rules and explanations for them are found in > the welcome message you received when you joined.