November 11, 2017
Though this site celebrates the influx of surplus tents and equipment from the United States military, the true backbone of the American experience are the men and women who have served and are still serving in the greatest standing military in the world.
And while these men and women who have served in the armed forces don't often see themselves as heroes, one only has to look back a few tens of years to see an entire generation of heroes who we have too quickly maybe have forgotten.
I am watching the Band of Brothers on HBO as I am writing this, and it is easy for me to reminisce while doing so, because as a young man I had the privilege of driving a soldier, who was associated with Easy Company, to Fort Ord California from Ohio to switch vehicles with his daughter who was married to a serviceman stationed out there. On that trip in 1988 I heard the whole story of the trek from Omaha Beach to Berlin and the four year span that it took to make it.
So, it is in this spirit that I am writing a Verteran's Day blog in celebration of the men and women who have served this wonderful country in any form, and I would like to present to you three reasons you should stop and thank a veteran today.
They sacrificed. Whether they think they went into the military for personal gain or not, each and every veteran has made a personal sacrifice in some way or the other.
They suffered. PTSD is one of the most prevalent conditions affecting military personnel today. They used to call it being "shell shocked" in my day, but the effects on the human body are the same now as they were back during the Civil War. War is hell and these people have either fought it or prepared for it.
They survived. There is a lot to be said for the fact that the service men and women of today's military have come through it and are able to function in society.