Honoring All Who Serve... From the Heart of a Vietnam Veteran

It seems so many have forgotten the meaning of Veterans Day. But what makes it so special a day that every American should take a moment to reflect, and thank those who serve in our armed forces, both past and present?

From the American Revolution

To the War in Iraq

Veterans Day isn't simply about the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces of this great country. It's about their sacrifices, heroism, and unselfish dedication to the United States of America. It's about their willingness to lay down their lives for the ideals on which this country was founded.

Gettysburg – Civil War Afghanistan It's about sacrificing their lives so someone else may live.

It's about giving their all that others may have freedom.

It's about fighting in the mountains, jungles and deserts in a foreign land, in the hope that war will never have to be fought in their homeland.

It's about fighting oppression to allow others the right to express their opinions and views, without fear of reprisal and sanction.

Normandy – World War II

Korea

First Gulf War

It's about vowing to "leave no one behind"

Vietnam War

Afghanistan War

War in Iraq

And carrying a comrade in arms from the battlefield on your shoulders in the hopes he will live, but knowing that at the very least, he will be buried in his beloved country.

It's about enduring the horror of war in the hopes your children will never have to do the same.

It's about lying in the mud or sand.

Fighting in a hole, and praying that the shelling will end. And looking at your buddies alongside you, and whispering words of hope and encouragement.

It's about being dead tired and still finding the strength to go on, sometimes when the odds are so heavily against you that it almost appears hopeless.

It's about the doctors and nurses who endure hell with you and work tirelessly tending the wounded.

It's about visiting a buddy in the hospital and reassuring him that he'll be OK..

It's about writing a letter home for someone who will never return home. It's about writing that letter for yourself, just in case you are one of the unlucky ones, and putting it in your pack where it would be found.

It's about cursing and swearing and praying and hoping.

It's about crying and smiling, sometimes at the same time.

It's about working and fighting side by side.

It's about a common goal, where personal wants and needs are forgotten.

It's about the sharing of a candy bar, or cookies sent from home.

It's about the looks on the face of a serviceman when he sees death and carnage for the first time.

And it's about the face and smile of a child who has been rescued from the ravages of war, even if only for awhile.

Arlington It's about the fields of white crosses and rows of simple bronze markers in cemeteries throughout the country, marking the graves of brave men and women.

Omaha Beach Cemetery Normandy, France It's about the graves on foreign shores where many died in the name of freedom, but who never were able to come home.

Luxembourg American Cemetery Battle of the Bulge

It's for the veteran shedding a tear while remembering friends and comrades from long ago.

It's for the prisoners of war who endured the misery and torture of captivity in enemy hands.

It's for those who venture out in storms because the book says they have to, but the book doesn't say they have to return.

And it's for the families of those brave men and women, who fight a personal battle every day their loved ones are gone.

No, Veterans Day isn't simply a specified moment in time. It's a day where every one of us needs to thank those who served this great country, both the living and those who have passed on.

Those of us who served will never forget them; please take a moment to remember them too.

The veteran who wrote this tribute wishes to remain anonymous.