11/10/2023
I just wanted to take a moment to thank all our Veterans and those currently serving our Nation in all Branches of the Military. Thank you. Thank you for your sacrifice. It IS a sacrifice to dedicate your life to Duty. To miss your family, birthdays, holidays and all the firsts in life with your children that alot of others take for granted. The time missed tucking them in at night and reading them stories. The time missed cuddling when there's bad dreams and chasing away the boogeyman to protect them, so they sleep soundly at night. The missed time watching them grow into young women and men. You have sacrificed and continue doing so in order to defeat the boogeymen across the world , so that Americans and people worldwide, are able to sleep more soundly each night. So that families across the globe can watch their children and families grow into young men and women. You sacrifice your time with family, so that they may have theirs. You sacrifice your comfort, so that they may gain comfort. You sacrifice your lives so that others may live.
Thank you for your dedication to this Nation and its people. For keeping US safe at home. For going to far away places on behalf of others and being in harms way. Thank you for looking out for one another on and off the battlefield and doing everything you can to keep each other safe and come back home.
Mere thanks cannot begin to express the gratitude and recognition of your Service, your dedication to attain and maintain high standards of values, morality and readiness to do the things that ordinary people wouldn't do, couldn't imagine and will never understand. Your struggles are many, and your strengths are often taken for granted, dismissed or never considered by others. Your wars do not end when you leave the battlefield, operations or missions. This life of Service was never a 9-5 job with holidays off and great dental. You never get to punch the clock and leave it all behind. The unseen scars and wounds can be just as debilitating as the physical ones. Our hardened Soldiers pack away and internalize more emotional damage, nightmares and images than most can comprehend, and yet you carry on. Day after day, year after year, struggling silently to keep it all together, raise families, perform your duties, to be strong for everyone you care about. For those of you that understand this, that feel this, that struggle with this, let me say- You are not unnoticed. You are not alone. You are loved and valued and cherished by more than you can ever count or imagine. Your journey thru life has touched innumerable people that are forever positively changed simply by you being in their presence.
Tho your call to Duty may go unappreciated or undervalued and even scorned by some, please remember that much love and respect is held deeply within the hearts of many at home and abroad for you. OUR men and women that answer that call. OUR incredible men and women of the Military that face the challenges, the obstacles, the demons, and savages that would see death and destruction spread across the lands of the world, YOU are the reason that evil hides in the shadows and scurries like cockroaches apon your arrival. YOU are our Warriors. YOU protect the weak and give hope to the hopeless. YOU are that shining beacon of safety in an otherwise endless night of hazards, cruelty, and despair to countless souls across the globe. YOU can and do INSPIRE many to reach higher, to work harder and become better people, in and out of Military Service. Keep that fire burning. Our younger generations need REAL LIFE HEROS in this troubled world to look up to, to learn from and be inspired by.
I apologize for my now longwinded messsage, that I foolishly presumed would be short and simple. However, I do not now, nor will I ever, apologize for my respect, admiration, support, love for and commitment to, our American Soldiers be they past or present. I may not always agree with our government and their decisions of why, when and where we deploy our amazing Men and Women of the Military or their often times lackluster support of our Troops at home and abroad. HOWEVER, I will ALWAYS, UNEQUIVOCALLY, AND WITHOUT QUESTION, support our Troops.
In closing, I ask that you all take a moment of silence this Veterans Day for all our Fallen Soldiers. A moment for ALL our Veterans, those who have retired, those that returned to civilian life, those that passed, as well as those that are still with us. Be sure to say "Thank you" to any you know. Give them a firm handshake, give them a heartfelt hug. Let them know you see them, that you care about them, that you are there to support them. Let them know that they are appreciated for what they have given in service to others. They need to know, they deserve to know, that the American People support them not just in words, but in actions.
Thank you to all our Men and Women of the Military, past and present. I love you all.
