Ally 1988
03-14-2003, 10:28 AM
My wife sent me this so I thought I would share this.
> >He is an ordinary and yet extraordinary human being...a person who
> >offered
> > > some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country,
> > > and
> >who
> > > sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice
> > > theirs.
> > >
> > > He is the POW who went away one person and came back another?or
> > > didn't come back at all.
> > >
> > > He 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, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is
> > > outweighed a hundred times by the 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 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 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 & who
> > > wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when
> > > the nightmares come.
> > >
> > > He is a soldier and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing
> > > more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest,
> > > greatest country 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 veterans need and in most cases it will mean more
> > > than
> >any
> > > medals they could have been awarded.
> > > ----
> > > 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.
> > >
>
> >He is an ordinary and yet extraordinary human being...a person who
> >offered
> > > some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country,
> > > and
> >who
> > > sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice
> > > theirs.
> > >
> > > He is the POW who went away one person and came back another?or
> > > didn't come back at all.
> > >
> > > He 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, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is
> > > outweighed a hundred times by the 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 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 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 & who
> > > wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when
> > > the nightmares come.
> > >
> > > He is a soldier and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing
> > > more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest,
> > > greatest country 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 veterans need and in most cases it will mean more
> > > than
> >any
> > > medals they could have been awarded.
> > > ----
> > > 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.
> > >
>