My post from November 11, 2011 honoring the veterans in my family:
Last
evening we had the excitement of welcoming home my nephew from his year
of Army service in Iraq. His daughter made a gold with black lettering
poster for him- they are Steelers fans. A group of twelve stood in the
baggage claim area of American Airlines to surprise the veteran. Soon we
saw the tall head in the crowd striding down the hall. He noticed us
with a faint smile.
A couple of the men who served under him waved
good-bye to "Sarge" David commented, "Sarge means like you were born a
sarge, not someone you held in your arms as a baby." His way of saying
he is proud of his nephew. We are proud of Scott.
Today is
Veteran's Day and as always there is the controversy of the "war" verses
supporting our troops. I grew up with the Vietnam War and my husband
served in the Cold War, speaking of unpopular wars.
I am proud of
our country now honoring our Veterans. They clap at parades when the
men and women who have served march by the crowd. Bumper stickers, signs
and postings on Facebook about the sacrifices made not only by the
service people, and their families raise awareness.
They fight
and have always fought not only for our freedoms, but the bigger
Freedom. It is a desire inbred in Americans to support freedom. We are
blessed to experience it here in America. The founding of our country is
unique, that no other country in the world up to that time in the
1700's had ever tried it. Yes, some of it is flawed, but we need to
catch hold of the vision that ideas, religion, class structure were not
to be forced on a people. Individual advancement would be in the
people's hands.
Most could not even explain this. I can't really,
but our country stands for Freedom of all. It is for that our soldiers
and sailors fight.
Some times the enemy is very real. England in
our early years, Germany and Japan in wars past. I just talked to a WWII
veteran and he was proud to have killed a "Jap." Communism and now
terrorism don't have a nation per say behind these strangling ideas.
They limit freedom. The devil does not like freedom and we are always in
a battle for people to chose.
I want to thank my relatives who believed in Freedom over the years by fighting and serving their country for the greater good:
Gerald T. Lewis-North Africa, Italy
Lyle O. Lyon, New Guinea and the Philippines
Their brothers, David Lewis,France, Clark Lyon,instructor, Leon Lyon, England. All in World War II
My mother's brothers, Bill Evans, 27 years in the Army, three wars, Ed Evans, Korean Conflict.
My
brother, Dan Lewis-Vietnam, and willing to go to Iraq when he was in his
fifties, but health prevented him- the War on Terrorism.
My husband, David Lyon- leaving his family for months at a time during the Cold War, on a submarine.
My brothers-in-law, Herman Galicia, Paul Lyon. Vietnam and beyond in active duty, reserves or Guard.
My nephew, Scott Lyon- Kosovo, Kuiate, Iraq
Sorry if I got anything wrong.
Thank you to all who love what our country offers enough to fight for others to have it. Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment