To Those Who Serve(d)...

 

THANK YOU!

And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.  It's Veteran's Day and the very least (and I do mean the very least) we can do is say thank you.

I have never served in the military.  I know I am not cut out for it and I know I am not healthy enough for it.  (Being overweight all my life with asthma and a plethora of allergies how could I?)  But I have family and friends who have served.  And I know service made this world a better place.

Now just because a person has served, doesn't mean they are a good person.  As the song goes, "There is good and bad in everyone.  We learn to live, when we learn to give each other what we need to survive, together alive."  (And yes, I did just quote "Ebony and Ivory.")  And that includes my ancestors and relatives.

Take my family "patriot,"  John Kilbury (1730-1810).  He fought in the Revolutionary War.  Originally I had been told he had been a British soldier who had been captured and offered the opportunity to fight for the other side.  (So technically a traitor.)  However, other records show that he had been conscripted in the British and when he was left in the Americas, chose to fight for freedom.  There is no way to know the whole story, but he did serve and his actions helped shape our country.  Thank you John Kilbury.

Take my great great grandfather, William A. Hoyt who fought in the Union Army during the Civil War.  He survived the war, married my great, great grandmother (who died when she was only 23), and cared for his daughter (my great grandmother) until he died at age 37.  I know so little about him, but Thank you William Alva Hoyt.

Then there is My great grandfather again who's history I do not know much about.  (Although he was on the board of education for several years.)  William A Smith died at the age of 58 and according to his tombstone was a member of the US Marine Corp . Thank you William A Smith

Or my paternal grandfather and his brother (or maybe it was just his brother) who were in the armed forces during the great war.  (Now known as WWI).  Thank you John and Robert Foster.

There was my Uncle Jimmy who made the military his career.  He spent many years overseas in various places, leaving his family behind in the US.  He too died too young (that seems to be a sad theme her) as a retired Lieutenant colonel.  I loved him, his immediate family loved him and I know he made a great impact on his community.  Thank you Uncle Jimmy.

My father-in-law who served in Vietnam.  I am still amazed that a man who never learned how to swim (and I think that's still the case) could be in the Navy.  But there you have it.  Thank you Michael.

I could go on and on thanking family members.  I haven't even mentioned friends and neighbors who have served.  If I started, I would surely leave someone out and they ALL deserve to be recognized.

All were amazing humans.  Not one perfect, but each one serving.  Each one making a difference for this country.  Each one deserving of our respect and thanks.

Thank you.  To those I have named and to those I have not.  You will always have my thanks and gratitude, today and always.