In Honor of All Military Personnel and Their Families on Veteran's Day

This post has also been posted at www.letourvoicesbeheard.blogspot.com)

This is a picture of our Flag which flies all year round, but of course we changed it out in honor of Veteran's Day. Texas winds begin to tear up flags pretty fast here.

I'm dedicating this post to all the good men and women who have fought for our country over the years, and especially to honor my husband for his service in Vietnam. I also dedicate this post to all the families of the men and women who serve this great nation in times of war.

Not only is it not easy to leave your loved ones and go overseas to fight and possibly come home mangled, but risk not coming home at all; it is just as hard in it's own way for the people left behind to wait, wonder and worry.

My own experience with this not happy event took place in 1970. Driving my husband to catch a bus to Presidio of San Francisco was pure hell and that's an understatement. Not bawling or begging him not to go (like he would have had a choice) was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do... well, almost. I was left with three children who wouldn't see their dad for quite some time and for the first time the MSM were televising a war live so you didn't know if you were going to watch your loved one die in front of your very eyes on national TV or not. It got to where I couldn't watch the news. Each time his letters were late I couldn't eat or sleep. Any time I saw a military car pass through my neighborhood I wondered if it was coming to see me with the dreaded news. That awful year dragged on forever.

Military families didn't enjoy the support they have now. And even with the support that they do enjoy, it doesn't diminish the anguish they go through worrying and waiting, hoping and praying that husband or wife, mommy or daddy, sister or brother or friend will come home alive and in one piece. So I think Veteran's Day should also be a day to remember and be thankful to the loved ones of the servicemen who sacrifice so very much of themselves in order for this country to remain free and the greatest nation in the entire history of the world.

So to all service men and women everywhere, not only overseas but here at home too because they could be called into action at any time, to all our veterans and to every loved one who has had to worry and wait, and especially to those whose loved one will never come home, I thank you. It's not sufficient for the sacrifice you have made or are making and it never will be. But it is all I know how to do.

And to God I say thank you for bringing my husband safely home. I know that I am one of the lucky ones!