Happy Veteran's Day 2015

ON VETERAN'S DAY

I give solemn thanks for all of those Americans who bravely stepped forward to defend a nation and a way of life..against all enemies--for those who stood resolutely at Lexington and Concord, and for those who continue mission today on the frontiers of freedom at home and abroad--to those who have felt the sting of battle, the cold trickle of sweat, and the increased rhythm in their chest, anticipating the fight to come--and for those who have dashed and rolled, and hunkered on broken ground while trading tracers with the enemies of our Nation in concerts of fire and smoke--and for those who have pushed bravely and resolutely through darkened doorways, cheek weld tight, eyes over sights, trigger finger light but unquestionably on the trigger...uncertain of what lay in wait on the other side, but deadly confident in their skills, and that their buddies were in the stack--and for those who have fixed bayonets before plunging head first into the fray--for those who rushed steadfastly into the surf and into a hail of lead and burning shards--for those who have made the long walk--who have trudged and climbed countless miles with pack straps tearing into their shoulders to gain the high ground--who have raced through the burning blue, punching holes in the sky while dodging the cracking flak and streams of bullets that sought to deny their victory--for those who drop from the heavens under billowing silk--for those who patrol above and below the seas, and who lie in wait in the darkest depths to release the hell fires of freedom--for those who rode the oiled leather, and who pilot whispering beasts of cold, rolled steel... ready to sling lead in mounted combat--for those who do what only they know of, and what only they should speak of--and for all those who have donned the cloth of our nation, for all of us--I am ever humbled to have stood the ranks, and to be counted among those happy few who have nobly earned the title of "Veteran."

Happy Veteran's Day 2015