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On behalf of my family I would like to thank those veterans who both past and present, served their country with honor commitment, perfection, pride and determination.
While many times the conflicts you fought in were plays written by politicians, you didn't stumble or hesitate to risk it all in service to our country and for that we will be ever gratefull.

I would also like to offer an apology. While fighting or serving in areas around the world, the last thing you need to be doing is comming home and fighting for medical and benefits due you and your families.

Those of us left behind should have our noses to the grindstone ever supporting you and reminding our politicians that our soilders deserve only the best we have to offer. Instead we forget what you do for us and get caught up in the menial everyday tasks of life and in our own self made messes and take your service for granted.

For that I offer a sincerely heart felt I am sorry.

Recent actions by the government by the people and for the people have been down right shameful toward your service and sacrifice and I have pledged to up my involment in improving your treatment and not to allow petty political bickering to interfere with what you deserve and have earned.

A grateful nation thanks you and your families that struggle while you are deployed. We thank those that have already served in lighting our paths way so that we may continue to walk in freedom. Let us not take it for granted but embrace it and teach the next generation what it takes to keep that freedom.

The best way to say thank you to a vet on Veterans Day -- fix the VA

How do we thank our veterans?

Not with a handshake or a hug, but with a population that understands their sacrifices do not come without a price and by ensuring that all of our nation’s heroes receive the proper care and benefits they deserve when they come home from war and transition back into civilian life.

That means not having to suffer through the bureaucratic disarray of the Department of Veterans Affairs or trying to find work in an unstable economy where post 9/11 veterans faced 10.1% unemployment in September.

It means that our nation and government have our veterans best interest as their priority. Our veterans deserve better than what they are currently facing.

Instead, veterans were recently locked out of their war memorials that they fought for, that their friends died for.

They were told that their benefits checks would not go out during the partial government shutdown.

Death gratuity benefits were initially denied to grieving families of those who had paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Many veterans are struggling to find work as unemployment for post 9/11 veterans has consistently been in the double digits in recent months.

Some employers are apprehensive about hiring veterans because of the outrageous PTSD stereotype that follows our modern vets due to the false stigma about PTSD in the media and Hollywood.

On average, 22 veterans commit suicide every single day.

The Department of Veterans Affairs data shows that more than one third of new mental health care patients have to wait more than the standard of 14 days to receive an appointment. And in some instances, veterans have to wait more than a month to receive care.

The VA has the funding, the assets, and the personnel to prevent this from happening, but instead our veterans are not receiving the adequate care they deserve.

The VA claims backlog is still out of control.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans have to wait well over a year to receive an answer on the decision of their enrollment eligibility for a first time claim. And follow-on claims or disputed claims can take years to receive an answer.

The VA is not performing as the service oriented department it was intended for. Instead veterans are suffering the stresses and hassles of a dysfunctional bureaucracy.

This is not the environment or the treatment that veterans deserve to come home to after putting their life on the line day in and day out.

If we allow this to continue, what does this say about us as a nation? Are we are so willing to look past the current status quo of our veterans?

Right now there are still 54,500 US troops fighting the war in Afghanistan. That’s 54,500 people who are missing their families, missing their way of life and missing the freedoms that we as Americans get to enjoy each and everyday.

And you can bet that every time they wake up and strap on their boots before heading out on a patrol, a raid, a convoy or a flight that they remember why they chose to fight for freedoms and liberties that make this nation extraordinary.

Because it’s those who have answered the call to serve, those who are willing to sacrifice, and those that believe our nation should be handed down to future generations as we found it, they are the ones who truly understand the price of freedom.

This freedom that we have grown so accustomed to, that many take for granted in their everyday lives, is a privilege, not a right, which must be preserved.

It is bigger than you and me.

It is a vision of hope, opportunity, and prosperity.

It is fragile, yet resilient and will be defended at all costs.

Our veterans are our nation’s heroes. They stepped up to fight our nation’s wars without question or doubt.

They don’t ask to be paid as much as politicians or NFL players or to be Hollywood celebrities. Instead, they believe in their hearts that our unique nation, the United States of America, is not only worth fighting for, but worth dying for.

They believe the freedoms and liberties that make it exceptional are worth preserving at all costs. They ask for very little, if anything in return for putting their lives on the line.

They understand that they are contributing to the greater good for the sake of our future. The least we can do to show our appreciation is demand that our veterans are being taken care of when they come home.

So this Veterans Day think of what you can do to make our nation a better place here on the home front.

There is still plenty of work to be done. Because if you really want to thank our veterans for their sacrifices, their service to our nation, and for their dedication, we can do so by ensuring they are coming home to the America they fought for and that many died for.

It is because of them that we are able to enjoy the freedoms and liberties that we have grown so fond of.

It is because of them every American has the opportunity to pursue the American Dream. And it is because of them that we are still the most exceptional nation on earth.

By Amber Barno - foxnews.com

Thanks for posting Bruce and Pat. I'm guilty of being too focused on self and not enough on those who serve or have served us with valor and dignity. Many thanks to our active service personnel and vets!

Some people need reminding that freedom doesn't come free… Some people are too dumb to realize this even when you try to hammer it into them…

Good Post!!....Thanks for keeping us grounded!

capt pat and bruce, great post.
a big thank you to all vets past and present.

Amen

+1

I have somewhat of a different perspective (and hopefully it won't come across as unappreciative) about being thanked for serving. I served in the Marines, as did my father. I came through unscathed. My father wasn't so lucky and left part of his skull on Okinawa at age 18. He obviously survived his severe head wound (but passed away 2 years ago) or I wouldn't be typing this post. My perspective (and his, which is how I got my perspective) is no one needed to thank us for serving. We served for one reason only: we felt it was our duty to serve our great and wonderful country. And for that, we didn't need to be thanked.

He would often tell people who thanked him for serving, that the thanks weren't needed, but if they did want to thank him, instead of saying thanks, they should make sure they are requiring their children to take their education seriously; that they should make sure that they were teaching their children high morals and good values; that they should work hard and be productive members of society; that they shouldn't take welfare and should be ashamed if they did (he chewed out his sister for accepting free cheese from the govt when that program was in place); that they should not tolerate people who use drugs and are freeloaders; and that they should live their lives everyday in a manner that made this country stronger. And he told them that in typical Marine Corps bluntness.

He felt that every US citizen should serve this country to make it stronger in any manner that the could, and if everyone did so, we didn't need to go around thanking one another.

Pop, God bless his soul, was a helluva man.

Sounds like he was......

I second Mike's comment !!

Jeff,

Like you, I served in the USMC. I also believe as you & your father do… no thanks needed, just do as your dad said… education, stand on your own, imbue our children with good values and teach them to hold themselves to high standards, show them the satisfactions gained when one works hard… It sounds like he & I would have gotten along just fine…

Pat has a good point… we should all work to get the VA working properly. The current situation is a disgrace.

Semper Fi
RIt

Ever heard of Pardo's Push?

wow what a feat
love watching jets, had 2 A 10s come over the house the other day
cant mistake that noise

Charlie J wrote:wow what a feat
love watching jets, had 2 A 10s come over the house the other day
cant mistake that noise

The Warthog, lol. My dad was a Navy pilot, started out flying P-51 Mustangs -- to the day he died he swore that was the best piece of machinery he ever flew.

Tom