Yeah. That's what some folk think when they hear..."ho hum", yawn.
Others think about how to get the free appetizers at Lone Star Steakhouse, or free lunch at Texas Roadhouse, or free buffet at Golden Corral. Many civilians will grumble and complain today because the restaurants are filled with service people getting their freebies. They'll wish they could get something free. I know. I've heard them before.
However...
Some think of parades and go visit veterans in nursing homes. Some will stand in hangers and cheer as soldiers return home from Iraq or Korea or Columbia or Libya. Yeah, soldiers are all over the globe--some come home with no one to greet them but a loved one who knew their tour of duty was up in Japan or England.
Others remember all too well the men and women overseas who are serving to keep our country safe. We consider those who are here at home and serving, training, and sacrificing personal family life for us. Some National Guardsmen are coming home with the job they left no longer available. They do not know what they'll do now. They come home to foreclosures, and empty houses, wounded and broken. They pack up their belongings and move away from family, friends, churches, support systems, and familiarity. Again and again and again.
They get paid less than average wage because their job does not end at five o'clock or Friday. They are on call 24/7 even when they are not on duty.
Some of us consider the fact that at any time another war could break out and the United States of America will be called upon to assist, intervene, protect, reinforce or stabilize. We do not take lightly the man or woman in camouflage who walks by us in the mall, sits beside us in a restaurant, or holds the door open for us as we enter the building. We see them. We know some of them by name. We love them. We pray for them. Today we honor them because it's Veteran's Day. What about tomorrow?
Things to do for a veteran ANY day of the year:
Pick up their tab at a restaurant.
Offer to assist their families at home with clogged sinks, broken fences, or battered rooftops.
Take one's children to the zoo, the circus, the playground or movie in honor of their dad or mom who is serving the country.
Invite a group of single servicemen for Thanksgiving Dinner or Christmas festivities with your family.
Send cards, letters, magazines.
Visit and volunteer at a Veteran's Home, or VA Hospital.
Offer to take a vet for an rehab appointment, any appointment.
Say "thank you for your service to our country" each time you see a uniform. selahV
