Veteran's Day

My brother in law  invited me to attend a talk on Sunday just passed.

A 91 year old gentleman was giving a talk at a local library about his experiences during World War II.  It was as they say riveting. He was a radio operator gunner on a B-17 and flew 32 bombing missions over Europe and Germany. He literally dodged the bullet.  I have often wondered how it was that these brave men could launch themselves into harms way with such courage. 

  The part that drew me in more than anything else was when he said there were things he could not discuss because he was too emotional about them.

70 years later and the pains of that Veteran would still flood back.  My neighbor across the street from my office is 89 years old and he comes to work every day.  He is a priceless human being, such a gentleman .  A couple of weeks ago he said that he was not sleeping very well and I suggested that it is the season of dreams.  Many people experience vivid dreams at this time of year.,  He told me that dreams of his wartime experiences had suddenly come flooding back.  He was present at the freeing of some of the concentration camps, he spoke Yiddish and German and he translated .  70 years later he still had dreams of horror coming back.  I felt a sincere heart tug in hearing these two elderly gentlemen speak of their emotionalism.  I realized that we had them carry a heavy burden for us for 70 years.  I then thought that we had many others over that time carry the same type of burden.

What would our world be like if these men and their generation not been among the greatest.

I can't bring myself to wish any Veteran a Happy Veteran's day. No one is happy about a war.

 What I do wish for them is that they know that their service is appreciated and instead I wish them all a peaceful day.  I do also hope that those who act on matters involving the military do so with discretion and solely in the national interest.

Our country has been in a constant state of war for 70 years, we need to try some other means.