Veteran's Day

[Warph]

We hold a deeply personal connection to our national military. To us, they are literally our husbands, our brothers, our sons, our grandsons, our best friends, our best-men. Our crew.  Some are currently deployed and for many prudent reasons we do not discuss the who's and where's.   You can rightly say for us "It's personal".

Today, as a nation takes pause, we just want to remind them, and you:

We love you!

[Ross]

"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A VETERAN DIED TODAY."

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.


Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.


And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.


But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Joe has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Veteran died today.


He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.


He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Veteran died today.


When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.


Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young,
But the passing of a Veteran
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.


Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?


Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?


The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.


While the ordinary Veteran,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.


It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.


Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever-waffling stand?


Or would you want a Veteran
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Veteran,
Who would fight until the end.


He was just a common Veteran,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his likes again.


For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Veteran's part,
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.


If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.


Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A VETERAN DIED TODAY."

[Ross]

Purple Heart at Flea Market Leads to Quest for Owner

Matt Carlson (Vietnam Veteran) guides medal from Arizona to Oklahoma
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 11, 2013 2:01 PM CST

Newser) – A Vietnam veteran was at a flea market in Glendale, Ariz., early this year when he noticed an unusual item for sale: a Purple Heart medal, going for $40. Matt Carlson knew what he had to do. "If I lost something like that, I would want my family to have it back," he tells the Arizona Republic, adding, per CNN, that he wouldn't want to "see it hanging on the shirt of some kid going to a rave party." But the only clues to its origin were a name on the back—Clarence M. Merriott—and a pair of papers tucked in its box that gave his date of death (June 19, 1944) and hometown (Stilwell, Okla.).

An Internet search revealed that Merriott was a member of the 300th Combat Engineers, a World War II battalion. He died in 1944 when the ship he was on hit an enemy mine off Normandy. But a group continues to preserve that battalion's memory, and members offered to help Carlson, as did a veteran from the battalion and his congressman grandson, and as did a historical society in Stilwell. The society tracked down a photo as well as some of Merriott's relatives; turns out the medal was lost in a move. Now, per the family's wishes, it's headed to the historical society for display; it will be at the center of a ceremony today, the Republic reports. "I helped him find his way home," Carlson says of Merriott.

http://www.newser.com/story/177356/purple-heart-at-flea-market-leads-to-quest-for-owner.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united&utm_campaign=rss_top

[Patriot]

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A VETERAN DIED TODAY."

Thank you, Ross.  And thank you for your service as well.

[Ross]

Thank you as well for your service to our great country Patriot.
I hope you enjoyed our day.

I attended a special program at Elk Valley for Veterans.
It was fantastic, the kids and staff put on a great program that was very patriotic.

Thy also invited the veterans to stay and have lunch with them.

Good job Elk Valley well done.