Websters dictionary defines Veterans Day as follows"
---November 11, a legal holiday in the U.S. in commemoration of the end of World Wars I and II and in honor of veterans of the armed services.
This is correct BUT it means so much more and many levels. First let us examine exactly what is a veteran.
vet·er·an
[vet-er-uh
n, ve-truhn] 
Show IPA –noun
1.
a person who has had long service or experience in an occupation, office, or the like: a veteran of the police force; a veteran of many sports competitions.
2.
a person who has served in a military force, esp. one who has fought in a war: a Vietnam veteran.
–adjective
3.
(of soldiers) having had service or experience in warfare: veteran troops.
4.
experienced through long service or practice; having served for a long period: a veteran member of Congress.
5.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of veterans.
Origin:
1495–1505; < L veterānus mature, experienced, equiv. to veter- (s. of vetus) old + -ānus -an
1495–1505; < L veterānus mature, experienced, equiv. to veter- (s. of vetus) old + -ānus -an
—Related forms
non·vet·er·an, noun
Source websters dictionary...
Again, this is a correct definition but lets examine this more closely. A veteran is a man or woman who makes the conscious and deliberate decision to serve in the military services. So what causes a person to make this serious and life altering decision?. This is a question that only each respective veteran can answer. The reasons are many and varied. But first and foremost it is a personal decision and one which I personally will not violate. People all across the world have celebrations for their respective veterans. Ideologies set aside the one thing that binds ALL past, present, and future service men and women is very simply that they chose to serve their respective nations.
These brave men and women do not seek accolades or parades, they do not seek fame for their duty, rather they serve their countries for the love of their countries, nothing more, nothing less. Every single serviceman ( and women ) I have spoken too see their fellow commrades as heros, but they do not see themselves as heros, with deep humility they see all service men as men and women as defenders of the faith. Defending the faith means that they fight to preserve their respective countries ideology, religion, government, and most importantly the citizens of their country.
The bravery in is inherant in all service persons in humbling. Every single service persons biggest hope is that they will never have to fight, and biggest fear is that they will. It is not the fear for themselves, but rather the fear and horror of taking another human life, yet understanding that in order to preserve their way of life it is unfortunately necessary. These brave souls willfully and knowingly enlist with these thoughts in mind. Keep in mind where we as a world would be without our veterans. I will not discuss this here, but rather it is a homework assignment for you to ponder.
Have you ever alked through the mall and overheard people criticizing service persons?, saying things like" All soldiers are war lovers, baby killers, rapists, " and so forth, dont deny it you have or you yourself has at some point. consider why you have that right to criticize the soldiers. It is directly because of our soldiers that you have that right. Our first president George Washington stated " Freedom is not free, blood must be spilt in order to gain it, and must be spilt in order to keep it " This is the horror of all military personel, the understanding that we as a free nation had to spill blood to gain our freedom, and must constasntly be ready to spill blood to keep it, for there are many nations of the world and religions that abhore the doctrine of our country.
One retired Colonel I spoke with describes with a tear in his eye the love and respect he has for all persons in the armed servies. " It is the cook, without whom we could not be nourished, it is the mechanic, without whom we could not move, it is the armorer, without whom we could not fight, it is the officers, without whom we could not have leadership, but it all boils down to this. It is Americans first and foremost who are the cooks, the mechanics, the armorers, and the officers. Every job in the armed servies is critical to every other job in the armed services. We all have or have had duties assigned we do not like or wish, but in the greater need of America we do what we must. ".
Our service men and women are the pinicle of self sacrifice. Lets honor those that serve rather than honor ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment