Remembering Veterans and Their Families - November 11, 2008
I hail from one of those rare families where really no one, save my grandmother’s younger brother and father’s half-brother, served in any armed forces. Certainly, no one saw any combat. Does that make my family unpatriotic? Some would certainly say so. I tend to think that such service runs in families. It becomes custom in some families for sons and daughters to join the Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Army. In some families it is an act of rebellion, or trying to find one’s way in this world. Whatever the impetus, I’ve always admired and honored those families that have served our country.
I intentionally include families of veterans in my Veterans Day observances because I think they are the unsung heroes of our armed forces. They are the ones who keep our troops emotionally strong and grounded while away for extended leaves. It is the families that “hold down the fort” on the home front. And sadly it is the families who bury the loved ones who give their lives for you and I and our freedom.
This Veterans Day, as you are thanking veterans for their service, please also remember to reach out to their families. Thank them for their service, their strength, fortitude and devotion. They serve our country in their own way, and it shouldn’t go unnoticed.
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