One Thing to Say on Veterans’ Day

Which is: Thank you.

(Picture above taken from this photo essay on two years in the life of a soldier.)

26 Comments on “One Thing to Say on Veterans’ Day”

  1. Thank you, Mr. Scalzi.

    (And a shoutout to my fellow squids too. Fair winds and following seas, shipmates.)

  2. You’re welcome, John. It was an honor and a privilege.

    To those who served before, and gave my my freedoms, those who served with me to keep it, and those who serve today to defend it and to share it with others — thank you.

    Semper Fi!

  3. That link really is very cool.

    You forget, when you think about men and women in uniform, just how young they are.

  4. Thank you, veterans. Whether I agree or disagree with the various wars, nothing about any of them lessens the value of your service, or my gratitude for it.

  5. You are most welcome. I say thank you as well to the Vets and the Active Duty folks. I especially thank those that have been and are in harms way.
    I had it easy riding around in the safety of a submarine

  6. A huge shout out to my brothers and sisters in uniform overseas. Also a huge shout out to all prior service — whether they have deployed or not — because those of us who currently serve, stand in your considerable shadows.

  7. Thank you for your service James Barker, Paul E. Cortez, Steven Dale Green, Bryan L. Howard, Joseph Schweitzer, Richard J. Ashby, Jesse V. Spielman, Anthony Yribe, Stephen Tatum, Frank Wuterich, Justin Sharratt… you will be always remembered.

  8. Thank you, Carl Hottle (WWI), Albert Landrum (WWII), Michael Landrum (Vietnam), Richard Hottle (Vietnam), Silas Brock (Vietnam – tunnel rat), Joyce Brock (peace time after Cold War), Jason Landrum (Cold War), Wilbur Bergdorf (WWII), Fred McCarty(WWII), David McCarty (Operation Desert Shield). Some of you deserved better on your return home. All of you deserve our thanks.

  9. And when the sky darkens and the prospect is war
    Who’s given a gun and then pushed to the fore
    And expected to die for the land of our birth
    Though we’ve never owned one lousy handful of earth?

  10. So say we all!

    From an Brit Vet, to all the US and other Vets, and Allied Forces currently serving, thank you.

  11. Very nice Veteran’s Day parade in my town. Many veterans not only in the parade but on the sidelines (such as my dad.) Thanks to all of you.

  12. Does anyone know anything about that speech-balloon sign in the background of the photograph?

  13. As a Vet, I say you’re welcome.

    But I also say as a Vet, if you really want to thank me, here’s what I’d like you to do.

    Vote
    Vote in every election even the little local ones.

    Keep talking
    Talk about everything because these conversations allow us all to figure out where we want to go from here.

    See, and I’m sure my brothers and sisters who served would agree with me, I didn’t join the military to protect the world from communism. I didn’t do it for oil and I certainly didn’t do it so I could go to other countries and shoot people.

    I did it for this reason.

    The First Amendment: addresses the rights of freedom of religion (prohibiting Congress from establishing a religion and protecting the right to free exercise of religion), freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition.

    That amendment is everything …

    Sorry, jumping off the soapbox now.

  14. Thanks for your support, John, I especially appreciated the e-copy of Ghost Brigades you sent to vets during my last deployment.

    JEff S. #23, good point, we took an oath the support and the defend the entire US Constitution.

    For 21 it has been an honor and a privilege, it was also a lot of fun amidst the trials and hardships. I got to see people at their worst, but also at their best.

  15. Thanks John. The most valuable lesson I got from my service was learning the difference between a job and a profession. I am proud to have served with so many professionals.

    All you Citizens out there: Do your damn job and vote! We’re in the mess we’re in now because somebody’s been slacking off. Big corporations should not be running our Great Nation into the ground. If you think US healthcare is awful, look at the way our wounded brothers and sisters are being treated upon their return to the US. Dogs get better care. Shame on our government for continuing to let this go on.

    As retired Air Force, I can’t really advocate signing up for the Navy :-) but those crazy recruiter sailors came up with a spot-on ad a few weeks ago at America’s Navy

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