As Veteran’s day is fast approaching, Tuesday November 11th, I want to pay tribute to the many veterans who have served our country. My family and I look up to veterans as heroes. How many times have you thanked a vet only to be told, “I was just doing my job”?
My son recently told me a story passed down from this Great Grandpa Julius about narrowly escaping death on a night when under heavy bombardment. GGJ Served in the U.S. Army during WWII, leaving a loving wife home for almost five years. My own Grandpa O served in the Navy during WWII as a radio operator (what a scary job – they were prime targets. I would especially like to honor these two great men today. Thank you for your service!
In honor of Veteran’s Day I am reviewing the book U.S. Army Special Operations Forces: Airborn Rangers by Michael Burgan. I learned many fascinating things in this book, which includes photographs, maps and illustrations. Did you know the first American colonists formed ranger groups to help the British in the French and Indian War (1754-1763)? There have been ranger units in every major war and many small conflicts ever since. The training rangers endure is brutal – actually I think all military training is brutal, but this sounds awful!
Does your family have oral stories to pass down? Have they been written down for you and future generations? I love to sit and listen as my Grandpa tells stories of his service. I want to be able to share these stories with my chldren in the years to come. Although some are written, I have a goal of recording more this year.
There are many men and women who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we have today. Since we can’t thank them personally, I challenge you to pass on a kind deed in their honor for Veteran’s Day. Please share your kind deed ideas with us in the comments section and/or share stories of those veterans you know.
Thank you to all the Veterans – may you have a happy and peaceful Veteran’s Day!
Thanks for all the info. I love reading about my grandpa and great-grandpa and their war stories. It’s something that really connects with me. Even though they are not alive, it’s so neat to read things about them.
I love the passing the kind deed idea. Thanks!
Deanna- You’re welcome! I also love reading about my family and find the war stories especially exciting.
I got to thinking that maybe people might be intimidated by the kind deed idea. I know when I started really thinking about it I got caught up in thinking it had to be on a big scale. Then I realized that the people we often overlook the most are the people around us. So, tomorrow, I plan on taking the afternoon off from blogging and read to my kids who are out of school (the only time I can ever recall actually celebrating Veteran’s Day in the middle of the week instead of the closest Friday or Monday!).
I also plan on taking the time to go visit our widow neighbor. Hey- maybe we’ll take our books over there and share them. Then, I think I will have my kids call their Gr. Grpa and sing him Yankee Doodle and Glory, Glory Hallelujah (the songs they are learning in school). Concluding with a public Thank you to Veteran’s tomorrow night when I teach a class on decorating pies!
What are your ideas?
Hi to both of you. So nice to discover your blog :).
My mom is a WWII veteran. She’s among the first women from Hawaii to enlist in the WACS. She was only 18 at the time. My grandmother lied about my mom’s age so she could enlist! My mom still says that joining the Army was the highlight of her life — it enabled her to travel to the mainland, for basic training and assignment. Both she and my father were on Oahu on December 7, 1941.
Thanks for this wonderful post!
jama- Wow, that’s so cool! I’ve never actually known anyone related to a woman in WWII WACS. I always thought it must have been an adventure worth writing about. I’m so excited- it’s almost like a met your mom myself!
Thanks for the compliment!
Thanks for this post Holly. It’s a good reminder of the people who made sacrifices to help us today.
Jama – thanks for sharing your story about your mom. I hope you have that written down. I bet your parents have some tales to tell.
As for me what I did to remember the Veterans, well I was in charge of a dinner for my church last night for over 200 people, which totally stressed me out having never done a dinner for that many people. So I wasn’t sure what to do then I started thinking that there had to be veterans in the audience. So I asked them to stand so we could recognize them. It was nice to see them stand up – many of the WWII vets. We gave them a nice round of applause.
I thought I’d report on my good deeds for Veteran’s Day. It was really hard for me to give up the internet for a whole afternoon- probably a sign that I’m on it too much. I read lots of books with my kids and we almost all ended up taking a nap (yay!). Our neighbor wasn’t home so we didn’t get to visit her- but we tried! We had a nice conversation with my Grandpa. I also dressed in red, white and blue for my pie presentation and publicly thanked the Veterans, there weren’t any present but it was a good reminder because I think most people had glossed over V-day and were thinking only of Turkey day and yummy pies.
One of the ladies there talked about her husband’s patriotic room in their home- he served in the military and her brother who was killed in the military as well.
Good job Cari! I think the veterans so often get overlooked and I’m sure they appreciated being remembered by so many.