30 Days of Thanks #12

With yesterday being Veterans Day. Today I am Thankful and Grateful for our veterans. Those brave men and women who serve our country to protect our freedom. Those who sacrificed all to uphold our Constitution. My thoughts turn to my grandpa Wood who served in the Air Force in the Korean War. A war that I know so little about, but that took so many lives. I never realized this until I visited the Korean War Memorial in Washington a couple of months ago. There are still 15,000 soldiers missing in action from the Korean War.

The Greatest Generation Ever also deserves our hats off. Without them we would not be the free country we are today. While walking around the WWII Memorial, I spotted a little old man walking around with a cane. He would move to a spot, standing there for several minutes and move again. When we walked by him I noticed he was wearing a WWII veteran ball cap. I wanted to go and thank him, but I didn't want to intrude on his experience. I am sure he was there thinking about what happened and those friends that he had lost. As we started to leave the memorial, he was walking out as well, I felt prompted by the spirit to again thank him. So I followed him and got his attention. When he turned around I told him, I just wanted to thank him for his service. We talked for just a few minutes and he then said something very profound. His said something the the extent of, "I am happy that you remember the reason why we still have our freedom. People of your generation don't seem to care or remember that we gave everything so that you can have something." I felt saddened by his comment, but the truth hurts when it is placed right in front of our face. My generation doesn't not know, and certainly does not remember the sacrifice that his generation has made so we can still have our freedom. This brave warrior told me that I must never forget them, that soon they would all be dead, but we must never them. I promised him I would not.

So today, I vow to never forget all the men and women who have fought and those who have died so that we may live in this free land. May God bless our service men and women and their families!