Veterans Day

I went to a memorial service yesterday for three men I never knew that were close to my heart.  They were soldiers, killed in the line of duty far from home in a foreign place called Afghanistan.  I went to support my friend.  I went to support my sister Army wives.  I went to pay my respects.  I went to honor their memories.  I went because it was the right thing to do.

These three heroes left the earthly plain almost a month ago, but their loss was still fresh on everyone’s minds, and heavy on their hearts.  There were no flag draped coffins.  At the front of the church, in front of the American flag, there were three helmets upon the pulpit.  There was a soldier there to give a eulogy for each fallen comrade individually.  It’s hard to accept that these soldiers, the men who go and fight for our country, are human beings… and it’s harder still to watch them tear up, or even hold back sobs, when they speak of the brother in arms that they lost.

At the end of a military funeral/memorial service they do what is called the “final roll call”.  The First SGT stood at the front of the church and called out names of other men in the unit…. After each name was called, someone in the pews would respond with “Here First SGT”.  When he got to the names of the dead, there was no response.  He called their names three times, and with each time the silence was more deafening.  John says that the final roll call is to signify that they are still a part of the unit, but they were unable to make the services because they had made the ultimate sacrifice.  That they did.

Today is Veterans Day.  It’s more than an excuse to close your business, take a four day weekend, or to get drunk.  Today has been set aside for a small population of men and women that risk their lives every day, that have given up a piece of their very being –either physically or emotionally- or have sacrificed themselves for something they believed in.  Thank you to ALL Veterans, past and present for standing up to protect me, my family, and my Country.