Thankful, grateful, amazed, and PROUD

“With bravery and strength they serve,
with dignity and pride they stand,
with courage and hope they fight,

the life they live is
dangerous,
treacherous,
rough,
and hard going

but when the fog clears they are the one who will still stand.”

  Today, is 11/11/2010, but what today really is, is Veteran’s day. All day long I have had tons of different things that popped into my head about what exactly I wanted to say today. I've been thinking carefully about the words I wanted to say and what I wanted them to mean for me and for everyone else. Sometimes it was happy thoughts, others kind of sad, sometimes a quick remembrance, and sometimes it was angry and full disappointment in lack of appreciation and respect, but always it was proud. I’m not going to vent like I planned once about the people who never said anything or the people who complained, instead I’m going to remember and appreciate those who matter. Today is THEIR day and NO ONE should be able to take that away from them no matter what they say. Not someone who doesn’t believe in war, not someone who doesn’t have a member of the service in their immediate family, not someone so caught up in their lives and their complaining that they have forgotten.

 Today, I want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU from the very bottom of my heart to all of the men and women, past and present who have served this great country. Freedom certainly is not free and the United States is so incredibly lucky to have men and women like you willing to defend our freedom, sacrifice the holidays and special occasions, work the long hours for not so great pay, say more goodbyes then most could take, and put their lives on the line every single day. I honestly don’t care what anyone says, we are SO lucky to have the sailors, marines, soldiers, airmen, coasties and national guard, both active duty and reserve, retired and current, past and present. You truly are not honored and thanked enough for the things you do! So again, thank you.

 That being said, I especially want to remember and thank the fallen soldiers. So many of our men and women signed their names on the line to defend this great country, and often times don’t make it home. While defending us they gain their angel wings and go to be with God. They pay the ultimate sacrifice so that right now I can be laying in my bed, with a laptop in my lap, saying whatever I want on the internet and all the other luxuries. To their families and friends, thank you for loving someone so incredibly much that you stood by them as they defended our country to their grave, we are forever in debt to you, as well. 

 That being said I want to thank the service member’s families and especially the women in the silent ranks, the wives. The wife of a service member is certainly not easy, but one thing I promise you is that it is the most rewarding thing in the world. I wouldn’t trade the times where I’m a temporary single mom, the broken phone calls, the worry over news and safety, the heartbreak watching a ship sail out of site, the frustration when the car breaks down and I know nothing about it, the constant moving, the constant unknown, or the constant change for anything. God made military wives a special breed of woman, and I am honored to be one and even more honored to stand amongst my fellow millie friends. The military has brought me some of the most amazing friends that I will always appreciate and will never forget. We are in it together, we are the only ones who truly understand one another, and we become a second family to one another. Our kids become the best of friends; spend hours playing together, and hours crying together when their daddies leave. Do we have our difference, absolutely, but ultimately we are there when the pregnant woman needs a soda, the new wife needs information on housing, the new mom needs a shower, the friend needs a stiff drink and a shoulder to cry on, and we all just need something to keep us distracted. So to the families, the kids, and especially the military wives –Thank you for your sacrifice as well. Behind every good soldier is his wife to help hold down the fort while he’s gone, we are lucky to have them and they are lucky to have us!

 

Military runs deep in my family and will always have a strong hold on my heart. My great grandpa Campbell was in WWI, two of great uncles (both Campbell’s) were in WWII, my grandpa Wohlford was on the very first Naval Seal team and part of the Chuting Stars, my grandpa Wallace was in the United States Navy during Vietnam, my husband’s grandpa Allen was in the United States Army during Vietnam, my step-grandpa Ted was in the United States Navy, my uncle Ray served in the United States Air Force, my dad was a United States Marine, and my husband is in the United States Navy. (I’m sure I’m forgetting some here.) Along with the TONS of friends who are serving in all different branches, Air Force, Marines, Navy, Army. You name it, I’ve got a friend in it and I am so thankful, grateful, amazed, and PROUD of their answer to the call to defend our country. 

As if my post didn’t scream it already, I am SO proud of be an American. I live in the land of the free and the home of the brave and I wouldn’t have it any other way! I thank God every night in my prayers for the men and women who serve and have served and for this country. We are so lucky to live the way we do because freedom honestly isn’t free, people are paying the price, sacrificing their lives for us. Please, say thank you to a service member. You don’t know how much it truly means to them.

God Bless America.