And Remember.......
It's the soldier, not the reporter, who gave us our freedom of the press.
It's the soldier, not the poet, who gave us our freedom of speech.
It's the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gave us our freedom to demonstrate.
It's the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves others with respect for
the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.

What is a Veteran?
He or She is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia
sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't
run out of fuel.
He is the bar room loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose
overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic
scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.
She (or he) is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep
sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.
He or She is the POW who went away one person and came back another -or
didn't come back AT ALL.
He or She is the Parris Island drill instructor who has never seen combat -
but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and
gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.
He or She is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and
medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence
at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all
anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield
or in the ocean's sunless deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and
aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes
all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.
He or She is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who
offered some of his or her life's most vital years in the service of their
country, and who sacrificed their ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He or she is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he
is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest,
greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean
over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it
will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

God Bless America