Today is Veterans Day. A day that we celebrate those who have served, or who are serving, in our military. What does it mean to “celebrate someone”?
Do we honor them with parades? Sometimes.
Do we have over-the-top outpourings of emotion for what they’ve done? On occasion.
Do we do these things because our calendar/iPhone/Android/FaceBook reminded us? In today’s world, quite likely.
Think about what a Veteran is, for a moment.
Someone who decided a life, or even a short stint, of service to people they will never meet is exactly what they should have in their life. That their needs and desires, while still important to them, are second to the needs of others.
I quote the movie A Few Good Men, “They stand on a wall, and say nothing’s gonna hurt you. Not on my watch.”They stand in the way of the onslaught.
They do what we cannot.
What we will not.
You may or may not agree with the powers-that-be who direct them, and you may think that the reasons we have been in certain places is without merit. However, you are allowed to voice those exact opinions, and rally likewise sentiment, precisely because of those Veterans we honor today.
My family doesn’t have a long military tradition. My Grandfather on my mothers side served in WWII, as a clerk in England. He came home not shell shocked, but rather, with a lifelong aversion to fish and chips. (Fried fish and French fries, for the uninitiated) So to my family, Veterans Day is a day for parades, and we wait 24 hrs to do any banking or mail any bills.
But to those families who do have that tradition, let me say to you, and yours, a truly, heartfelt, thank you. We are not who we are, without you.
Ben Cox is the morning show host of “Ben Cox in the Morning” on KQBZ, 96.9 FM in Brownwood Texas. He is the new in-stadium voice of the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets football team, & Ben is also an event DJ for weddings, parties and the like, and can be contacted through the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce.
The thoughts and comments reflected in this column are those of the writer alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of Wendlee Broadcasting, or its affiliates.
