Today is Veterans Day. A day set aside to take the time to honor the patriotism, courage and sacrifice of our armed forces. For all those past and present who dedicate their lives defending the freedoms of our country. I'm not sure exactly how to express my gratitude to these selfless men and women. Monthly for the last 23 months I have sent off and brought home plane after plane of soldiers returning from overseas. Yet I still don't know how to properly say thank you. When a plane deploys the soldiers walk in single file line thru a line of cheering USO and Red Cross volunteers. At the end of the line are two American flags. I recently saw a soldier walk past the flag turn around come back and kiss the flag. This happened to be the same soldier who had earlier in the day told me he didn't mind going overseas. He said if he went, it meant another soldier got to come home. How can I properly thank him? I'm lucky enough to also volunteer with veterans. They range from veterans of World War 2, The Korean War, Vietnam and the Gulf War. One day I was standing next to my friend Jack who is a Vietnam vet. He told me that he volunteers because he wants to make sure each soldier gets a proper welcome home. Because he didn't when he came home. After a few minutes of silence I softly said.."hey Jack..welcome home. I know it's late in coming, but welcome home." He looked down at the ground and said,"better late than not at all...thank you." How do I properly thank him? How do I properly thank the guys I can see waving to me as their plane taxis away? Or the guy I saw get to the top of plane stairs only to turn to around and blow us all a kiss? Or the guy who was shaking so bad he couldn't put his angel penny on his dog tags? Or the guys who thank me for volunteering? Or the young girl I saw heading to the plane with a teddy bear sticking out the top of her back pack? Or the guy who is walking to the plane and looks back one more time? Or the line after line after line of soldiers I see heading off to war? Or the ones who come and sleep on my living room floor? Or the ones who play with my kids? Or the elderly man who served with pride? Or the man who struggled to get out his wheelchair to put a dollar in my donation bucket? Or the man leaning on his cane I stood next to last year in NYC who saluted the flag as it went by? How do I properly say thank you to any of them? I don't think I can..but until I find a proper way..I will just say thank you. Your sacrifice and service does not go unnoticed.
