Sunday, November 11, 2007

This Veteran's Day

My grandfather and one of his buddies with a couple of WACs.
My grandpa is the one on the far right.


My grandfather passed away last year, but I use to call him every November 11 and thank him for his service in the U.S. Army during World War II. Even though he's no longer here, I'm still grateful.

To my grandfather, who served under General George S. Patton in the push to rid Europe of Hitler and his tyranny and destruction.

To my mother's cousin, Tommy, who deployed to Vietnam and was only in country two weeks before he was killed by hostile ground fire.

To my father, who served in the Air Force during Vietnam loading munitions and unloading the dead.

To all of the men and women of our Armed Forces, past and present, thank you.

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This Veteran's Day marks the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also known as "The Wall." If you live in Washington, D.C., take a few minutes to go down to the Mall this weekend and thank a vet. I'm sure they'd appreciate a few kind words of gratitude.



Photo copyright: ELB, 1945.

3 comments:

Cele said...

I hate when I steal an idea for a post, but girl this is awesome. I love the picture of your grandfather. Thank you for sharing your thougths, I think I will try to share mine.

Anonymous said...

Those men were so young. When I see pictures of my father-in-law when he was a skinny 19-year-old soldier I just can't believe what those boys had to go through.

Nice post, Tewks.

- Phoebe

J.M. Tewkesbury said...

Cele: I'm glad you appropriated this idea for your blog. I enjoyed your tribute to veterans.

Phoebe: I feel the same way about so many of the young people serving in our military today.