Veterans Day 2016
Take a moment to realize...
Take a moment to realize…

Today is Veterans Day – a day we set aside as a federal holiday and national public appreciation for all who have served in the defense of our freedom since our nation’s founding (although the official holiday is only about 90 years old.)  Originally known as Armistice Day, Veterans Day pays homage to ALL who have served in our military.

To those of you reading this who have served in our nation’s military ‘thank you.’  For the rest who have not served know this; it is the Veteran’s honor to defended the freedom of the greatest nation on earth, even for the briefest of time, and to have been even a small part of the deliverance of so many millions from the tyranny of brutal dictators through our history.

Unlike the somber demeanor with which we (should) observe Memorial Day – the remembrance of our fallen heroes – Veterans Day is a time of rejoicing and celebrating the freedoms each and every Americans enjoys, and to appreciate those who made our freedom possible.

For the Marines among you yesterday was the 241st birthday of the Marine Corps.  If you aren’t currently deployed to some hell-hole or underway with some carrier group, then you should be in the middle of your traditional 96-hour liberty about now.  Semper Fi brothers!

Today as you go about your business, perhaps shopping for that holiday bar-b-que at your local grocery story, if you should come across one of those old guys or gals in a baseball cap covered with pins from all of their former units, maybe embroidered with the words “Korean War Veteran” or “Afghanistan War Veteran”… maybe he or she is missing a limb, please take a moment to shake their hand and say “thank you for my freedom.”  Believe me, it will mean a great deal to them.

Today, the 10th of November 2016, on this 90th Veterans Day – even as thousands of mindless Liberals literally riot in the streets of dozens of American cities protesting the free and legal election of President Elect Donald Trump, as celebrities try to squirm out of their promise to leave the country if Clinton was not elected or post videos of themselves crying in despair on YouTube – today please take a few minutes perhaps at the start of your bar-b-que to pause and thank God for our Founding Fathers who crafted this great nation of ours, and to thank the millions of Veterans who have kept us free for 240 years.

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It Is The Soldier

by Charles M. Province, U.S. Army

It is the Soldier, not the minister

Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer

Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

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Mr. Province chose the term Soldier, but only because that was what he was.  Obviously thanks to our American Sailors, Marines and Airmen as well… and to the military men and women of our allies alongside whom we have fought for hundreds of years in the defense of freedom worldwide.

Our mottos are…

  • Army – This We’ll Defend
  • Navy – Honor, Courage, Commitment
  • Marines – Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful)
  • Air Force – Above All

… and these apply regardless of your political party.  We will defend your right to march in the streets for Socialism, or burn the flag, or make jokes about how it may be time to use assassination to solve your problems.  You have a right to be a Patriot or a Pinhead… brought to you by your Department of Defense.

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