A Memorial Day Thank You

Thank you Dad.

     Thank you to all the veterans, soldiers, and their families for doing their unenviable jobs.  All  Americans appreciate you.
     I believe war is always the wrong choice....the last choice.  There are better ways to achieve peace than by killing.  Countries go to war for power and control, not for peace.  Unless you are waging a last-ditch defense of your own soil and people, there are no reasons good enough to declare war.  There are no winners in war.
     That being said, I appreciate everyone who is out there protecting our country and defending its citizens every day.  It takes much courage to do your jobs and I honor that.  John Wayne said that "courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway."  Thank you for saddling up and keeping us safe.
     I was an Army Nurse at Walter Reed Hospital from 1974-1977.  I was fortunate that the Viet Nam War ended by the time I graduated from nursing school.  Most of the patients there were soldiers returning from Viet Nam, and they were so young!  Remember that I was only in my early twenties at the time, and I was still struck by their extreme youth.  They were 18, 19, and 20 year-olds back from war and forever changed.
     Peace.
 
"In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below."
                            John McCrae