Happy Independence Day!

On Independence Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day I always think of the military and service to our great nation.  Those thoughts are always bittersweet.  I think of the men from World War II, like my dad that were so damn proud of their service, all the movies of hero's and great battles and deeds and it is easy to get caught up in the glory of it all; the pride of their time.  Then comes memories of my service and personal experience... no great battles; the greatest hero I remember was a nurse at NSA Da Nang that asked me if I was OK; when she was the one, that dealt with the amputees coming out of OR; the pride I had when I returned home quickly faded when I was spit at and then the first job I applied for, the owner called me a baby killer and told me to get the @#%k out of his place.  Times change and it is a little easier to say that I am a Vietnam Veteran... none of this changes my love of country and I would fight again to keep our independence.  The biggest failing I think we the people are doing at the moment is not teaching Americanism to our next generation; we have the men and women coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq or really any where in the world that are protecting our freedom that we could be out there celebrating our American way of life with and thanking them for their service.  It is too easy to just take an apathetic look on our military today.

Independence comes at a price.  

 God Bless America

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