I went for a ride this Veterans Day Weekend with my wife and some friends (will post on that ride later). During the ride I thought of Veterans Day and what follows is a short synopsis of what I was thinking.
A “LOT” of my family has served. My dad was in the Army and the Navy, most of his and my mother’s brothers were in WWII. My father-in-law, brother-in-law served and my son-in-law is still serving after four tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. My youngest daughter’s fiancé is in his first “hitch” with the Air Force. Many of my cousins have served as well, some even went to Vietnam. I would not be surprised that if you looked deep into the family tree we would find that members of my extended family have served as far back as the Civil War.
Those of us that serve typically lead a hard life, often away from family, often in places that most of the world would never venture. As part of this lifestyle I have had associates, acquaintances, and friends of the family injured and killed. Even in peace, it is common for service members to be away from their families for months at a time, to be hurt or killed.
Yes, we choose to undertake this tough lifestyle. Yes, we, understood the risks we were taking. Yes, we knew that we could be killed or permanently injured. Yes, many of us would do it again. Most people will never understand why we choose to do this nor do I expect them to understand. We do it for you, you may not understand why, but know, that we do.
Below is political commentary, you do not need to read past this point.
For the first time in my life, almost half of which was in service, I feel that our political leaders REALLY do not care about the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen. I could give you a long list of proofs of why I believe this but one point stands at the forefront of my reasoning.
There are nearly 600,000 service members awaiting “processing” by the Veterans Administration. 600,000 service members with some form of injury or disability WAITING for help from the government, from the political leaders that they served. The same politicians that determined a website and non-citizens should have priority over the men and women that THEY sent into harm’s way.
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 