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Another way of expressing our thanks and honoring our U.S. military is via the following link: www.letssaythanks.com.
You pick out thank you postcards and Xerox prints and sends these messages from home to someone serving in the armed forces. This is FREE of charge and only takes a minute of your time. Snopes confirms that it's legit and as far as I know, they're still sending out those cards.
A big thank you to all the veterans and their families who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom as we approach this Memorial Day Weekend. This weekend, like no other, should remind us that it does not matter if we are rich are poor, or live in the biggest city or the smallest town, when the call to serve was given, some gave all.
The BrokenTap family is not without loss and throughout this families 386 year history on this continent, there are three family members who have been Killed in action.
Joseph Warren: Killed in action: American Revolutionary War: Bunker Hill
Frank Grass: Killed in action: Civil War (North): New Orleans
Frank Johnson: Killed in action: B-24 over Germany
We would also like to thank:
John Black: Combat Wounded: Civil War (North) Bull Run (5 times)
William Johnson: Combat Wounded: Vietnam
I would like to share a letter I wrote about regarding a very special veteran. That letter is as follows and pretty much states how I feel about veterans whom have lost their lives in conflicts..
Dear Butch,
I know you remember that day well, 38 summers ago standing in the rice patty with my father as you heard the thud of a bullet hitting a body. Nanoseconds later you heard the rifle report and for a split second you and my father knew one of you had been hit, but was not sure which one. Unfortunately it was you.
You never returned to the United States again, even though you made it through boot camp, became best friends with my Dad and did two tours of duty in Vietnam. To die three days before your return home hardly seems fair.
The Survivor Guilt is deep within my dad, even now, but he picked himself up by his boot laces and did well these past 38 years. He has used his medic training to save two lives, doing tracheotomy’s on the side of the road to save car accident victims. He also opened his home to hundreds of foster children, had three children of his own and adopted six more. He’s done some good despite the memories of Vietnam.
The sad thing is, I will never know your real name. Dad never talks about Vietnam and it is too painful to ask what your real name is. Butch is all I will ever know.
I have touched your name once though, on the wall in Washington, DC. I was too small to remember the name, but small enough so that I could be put on my Uncles shoulders and rub your name with chalk onto a piece of paper as Dad cried…really cried. I had never seen my Dad cry before, but of all the names…one name…your name…touched him the most.
Despite 38 years of silence, one thing needs to be said. Not from my Dad, but from me Butch. Thanks for taking that bullet for my Dad.
Written by BrokenTap, son of a combat disabled Vietnam Veteran
It's been said before...Best way to show your appreciation for a troop of any branch to buy them something such as drink or pay their bill at a restaurant...It reinforces us that we made the right decision even though we could be away from our families for long periods of time and also makes our day
My father was in the Air Force and the Korean "Conflict". He is now 78 years young, and only in the last few years has he ever even spoken of his military time, except to state proudly that he had been in the Air Force when he was young. I have just recently had the honor of seeing his scrap books from his time in the military, and he has just over the last few years, discovered the internet and found some of his military buddies! Wow! He is talking on the phone with some of them, and he just looks so darn cute and young when he talks about them, or when I see him on the phone with them! (I also think I am old enough - over 40 - to hear more of what he would consider "risque'" stories - which for Daddy might be PG without the 13! He has a strict sense of what is and what is not acceptable for women and children to hear! Bless him! These stories consist of a little drinking with his buddies, and maybe some colorful and very creative pranks they used to play on each other.)
I am so very proud of him.
Thank you to our Veterans, young and old, and know that you are cherished and appreciated. Know that most of us understand that freedom is not free, and that YOU are the reason we get to live out our lives without persecution, and are fortunate to live in the greatest nation on earth! A huge heartfelt thank you to you all!
My youngest son served for six years aboard the USS Enterprise as a Nuclear Technician. He had three tours into the Persian Gulf during Operation Enduring Freedom and I am damn proud of his accomplishments and his service to our country.
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another way to thank them
