11/11/05
Laurel A. Olmsted
I once overheard a young man exclaim, “Veterans, who do they think they are?”
Was he a protester carrying a sign? No.
Was he someone who had been wronged by a veteran? No.
He simply had discovered that his mail might not be delivered on Veterans Day.
I don’t know who I am more upset with, the mother who didn’t say anything to her son, or myself, for not telling this guy just who veterans think they are.
So I decided to write something I can hand to someone should the question ever arise again. This is a partial list of all that our military has done and is doing for us.
"Veterans, who do they think they are?"
They are the men and women who live every day in pain.
Physical pain from their wounds, lost limbs, or maybe it's the shrapnel they still carry.
Emotional pain from being separated from their families for long periods of time.
For missing the birth of their child, or death of a parent.
Mental pain for what they have seen and what they had to do.
Pain from knowing that they would have died for you and you are not wise enough to know you should care.
They are the ones who make life-long friends.
They know how precious life is and they never forget the ones who didn't make it back.
Never.
That is why you will see Veterans at the cemetery on Memorial Day walking around and silently thanking the ones who are buried there.
They don't have to know them personally to know the sacrifice each one made.
They are the ones who are loud and boisterous.
They are the ones who are quiet.
They are the ones who shivered in the foxhole, trying to keep the enemy at bay.
They are the ones who crawled through sand when the temperature was 126 degrees.
They are the ones who carried their buddy to safety.
They are the ones who sometimes drink too much, trying to keep the memories from haunting them.
They are the ones who carry the flag with the honor and respect it deserves.
They are the ones who wear their military uniform with pride and still have it in their closet 30 some years later.
They are the ones who don't ask you to go out of your way for them.
They are the ones who have gone out of their way for you.
They are the ones who spent many nights awake on guard duty so you didn't have to.
They are the ones who helped keep our shores safe while you played video games.
They are the ones who missed their birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates.
They are the ones who got shot and got sent home, but felt guilty because their buddies were still there.
They are the ones who followed orders even when they didn't want to.
They are the ones who had enough love and pride in their country to do a job many others couldn't do.
They are the ones who stepped up when the call went out.
They are the ones who ate MRE's till they were sick of them.
They are the ones who cried "MEDIC!" at the top of their lungs though they couldn't even hear their own voice.
They are the ones who cried when they were alone in their tent.
They are the ones who flew planes, drove tanks, worked a ship, and armed the missiles.
They are the ones who had moms at homes praying for them every minute of every day.
They are the ones who made it safe for you so you could go to school or work.
They are the ones who missed ordering pizza, the movies, the shopping trips, and all that you take for granted.
They are the ones who asked to take a friend's deployment because that friend had a family.
They are the ones who gave their girlfriends a lock of their hair to keep as a promise of their return.
They are the ones who wanted to come home.
They are the ones who didn't return.
They are the ones who waited months for a letter.
How can you not wait one day?
God bless our veterans.
Laurel A. Olmsted is the wife of a veteran and the proud mother of two veterans.
What is a Vet? (author unknown)
Some Vets bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, the thousand yard stare.
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 of honor. You can't tell a Vet just by looking.
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 slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.
He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington 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 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 testimony on behalf of the greatest nation ever known.
So remember, this week when you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most Vets 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 to a Veteran, 'THANK YOU.'"
Thank you, Dad, Jimmy, Paul, Jeff, Elissa, Heather, Doc, Etain, Steve, Carl, Phe, Bill, Jon.
Here's to us, and those like us . . .
Damn few left.
I once overheard a young man exclaim, “Veterans, who do they think they are?”
Was he a protester carrying a sign? No.
Was he someone who had been wronged by a veteran? No.
He simply had discovered that his mail might not be delivered on Veterans Day.
I don’t know who I am more upset with, the mother who didn’t say anything to her son, or myself, for not telling this guy just who veterans think they are.
So I decided to write something I can hand to someone should the question ever arise again. This is a partial list of all that our military has done and is doing for us.
"Veterans, who do they think they are?"
They are the men and women who live every day in pain.
Physical pain from their wounds, lost limbs, or maybe it's the shrapnel they still carry.
Emotional pain from being separated from their families for long periods of time.
For missing the birth of their child, or death of a parent.
Mental pain for what they have seen and what they had to do.
Pain from knowing that they would have died for you and you are not wise enough to know you should care.
They are the ones who make life-long friends.
They know how precious life is and they never forget the ones who didn't make it back.
Never.
That is why you will see Veterans at the cemetery on Memorial Day walking around and silently thanking the ones who are buried there.
They don't have to know them personally to know the sacrifice each one made.
They are the ones who are loud and boisterous.
They are the ones who are quiet.
They are the ones who shivered in the foxhole, trying to keep the enemy at bay.
They are the ones who crawled through sand when the temperature was 126 degrees.
They are the ones who carried their buddy to safety.
They are the ones who sometimes drink too much, trying to keep the memories from haunting them.
They are the ones who carry the flag with the honor and respect it deserves.
They are the ones who wear their military uniform with pride and still have it in their closet 30 some years later.
They are the ones who don't ask you to go out of your way for them.
They are the ones who have gone out of their way for you.
They are the ones who spent many nights awake on guard duty so you didn't have to.
They are the ones who helped keep our shores safe while you played video games.
They are the ones who missed their birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates.
They are the ones who got shot and got sent home, but felt guilty because their buddies were still there.
They are the ones who followed orders even when they didn't want to.
They are the ones who had enough love and pride in their country to do a job many others couldn't do.
They are the ones who stepped up when the call went out.
They are the ones who ate MRE's till they were sick of them.
They are the ones who cried "MEDIC!" at the top of their lungs though they couldn't even hear their own voice.
They are the ones who cried when they were alone in their tent.
They are the ones who flew planes, drove tanks, worked a ship, and armed the missiles.
They are the ones who had moms at homes praying for them every minute of every day.
They are the ones who made it safe for you so you could go to school or work.
They are the ones who missed ordering pizza, the movies, the shopping trips, and all that you take for granted.
They are the ones who asked to take a friend's deployment because that friend had a family.
They are the ones who gave their girlfriends a lock of their hair to keep as a promise of their return.
They are the ones who wanted to come home.
They are the ones who didn't return.
They are the ones who waited months for a letter.
How can you not wait one day?
God bless our veterans.
Laurel A. Olmsted is the wife of a veteran and the proud mother of two veterans.
What is a Vet? (author unknown)
Some Vets bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, the thousand yard stare.
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 of honor. You can't tell a Vet just by looking.
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 slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.
He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington 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 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 testimony on behalf of the greatest nation ever known.
So remember, this week when you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most Vets 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 to a Veteran, 'THANK YOU.'"
Thank you, Dad, Jimmy, Paul, Jeff, Elissa, Heather, Doc, Etain, Steve, Carl, Phe, Bill, Jon.
Here's to us, and those like us . . .
Damn few left.