Carol & List members, Please forgive me for passing on a little message on Veteran's Day. I served twice in Vietnam and when I retired after 23 years, and went to work as a civilian businessman, my ten-year-old daughter Kristin asked me one November 11th (Veterans Day), "Dad, Why do we get school off and you have to work on Veteran's Day? You should get the day off!" I'll never forget my daughter's comment. So now that I am self-employed, I TAKE Veteran's day off . . . and it feels great! So, for all you Veterans and rooters with family members who are veterans, here's something from another list: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The original “What is a Vet?” VETERANS DAY, 11 NOVEMBER 1998 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “The following letter is from a Marine in Viet Nam to his parents. A remembrance to all who have answered their nation's call. THEY'RE REAL CHAMPIONS "...Just imagine, most of the guys over here are 18 and fighting to make it to 19. The average age of the combat soldier in many units here is 18 1/2. And what a man he is. A pink cheeked, tousled haired, tight muscled fellow who, under normal circumstances, would be considered by society as half man, half boy, not yet dry behind the ears and a pain in the unemployment chart. "But here and now he is the beardless hope of free men. He is, for the most part, unmarried and without material possessions except possibly for an old car at home and a transistor radio here. He listens to rock n roll and 105 millimeter howitzers. "He just got out of high school, received so so grades, played a little football and had a girl who promised to be true. "He has learned to drink beer because it is cold and 'is the thing to do'. He is a private first class, a one year military veteran with one or possible three years to go. "He has never cared for work, preferred waxing his own car to washing his father's but he is now working or fighting from dawn to dark, and often longer. "He still has trouble spelling and writing letters home is a painful process. But he can break down his rifle in 30 seconds and put it back together in 29. He can describe the nomenclature of a fragmentation grenade, explain how a machine gun operates and use either if the need arises. "He can dig a foxhole, apply first aid to a wounded companion, march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march. He has seen more suffering than he should in his short life. He has stood among hills of bodies, and he has helped to build those hills. He has wept in private and in public and has not been ashamed at doing either, because his pals have fallen in battle and he has come close to joining them. "He has become self sufficient. He has two pair of fatigues, washes one and wears the other. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but not his rifle. He keeps his socks dry and his canteen full. "He can cook his own meals, fix his own hurts and mend his own rips - material or mental. He will share his water with you if you thirst, break his rations in half if you hunger and split his ammunition if you are fighting for your life. "He can do the work of two civilians, draw half the pay of one and find ironic humor in it all. He has learned to use his hands as a weapon and his weapon as his hands. He can save a life or most assuredly take one. "He is now 19, a veteran and fighting to make 20 ..."” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These messages came from: From: [email protected] (Betty Briggs) to the OHIO- [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All the best today, to all of you who are veterans and to all the families whose freedom you have helped to secure. Best regards, Bob O'Neal Lt.Col. USA Ret.