Happy Veterans Day
 

Many gave some and some gave all..


i've posted the following past four years...It's an editorial from the Richmond Times Dispatch....If you can keep a dry eye reading it, good luck....


What Is a Vet?



War makes strange giant creatures out of the little routine men who inhabit the Earth. --WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle.

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg -- or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's alloy forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking.

What is a vet?

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.

He is the Nebraska farmer who worries every year that this time the bank really will foreclose.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 39th Parallel.

She -- or he -- is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another -- or didn't come back at all.

He is the Quantico drill instructor who never has seen combat -- but who has saved countless lives by turning slouchy no-'counts into soldiers, and teaching them to watch each others' backs.

He is the parade-riding legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the anonymous hero in the Tomb of the Unknowns, whose presence at Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the other anonymous heroes whose valor died unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket -- palsied now and aggravatingly slow -- who helped liberate a Nazi death camp, and who wishes all day long his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being -- a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs. He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known. --This editorial first was published in 1995 and has appeared annually since 1999.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

It is the
VETERAN ,
not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is
the VETERAN ,
not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is
the VETERAN ,
not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is
the VETERAN ,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.


It is
the VETERAN ,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.



It is
the VETERAN ,
not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.



It is
the
VETERAN
who serves
under the Flag,

A#1 doubleplus exquisite work.



:tro::tro::tro::tro:



OOOOOOOOOO

Outstanding DJ! Happy Veteran's Day to all those who provide us FREEDOM! :tro:

veterans day was called armistice day for years, til 1954. of course it was originally to honor the ww 1 vets. too bad the war to end all wars wasn't.
the name was changed to veterans day, and the intent changed to honor all veterans. but the day remains the 11 of november, when the armistice was signed by germany.

happy veterans day to all veterans, everywhere.

My husband and I went to see the stage version of "War Horse" on Friday. Much of the story takes place during WW1. There's a beautiful folk song that they used in the show, "Only Remembered." I found this video tribute to the soldiers who fought in the Great War set to a lovely version of the song. Happy Veterans' Day to the veterans. May we never forget to make sure the ones returning from service get the care and support they deserve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyoJn8Ebb7I

Saw the movie awhile back, very good...amazing how the horse changed hands so much...stage show capture much of that?..

It did. The state show uses enormous puppets for the horses, and it's just mind-blowing, the incredible skill the puppeteers have. I missed bits of action here and there onstage because I was so mesmerized watching the ears on the puppet horses flick back and forth.

Here's a 2 minute commercial for the British production of it. It can't fully capture seeing them live but it gives you a good look at how freaking amazing those puppets are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_UDV...feature=relmfu

Thanks, can see why you were thrilled with the stage show...:tro:

Veterans Day videos
 

http://youtu.be/DRx5dw3_ZIg

Here's the link for a couple of videos my son worked on for Veteran's Day last year. He was the video editor. See editing sample #1 and editing sample #2. They are about 5 minutes long. He and the rest of the people that worked on the videos were nominated for an Emmy, but they lost to a TV crew in Missouri that did a piece on the aftermath of the tornado that hit Joplin, MO. Americans may be disliked in parts of the world, but obviously, there are some Europeans that still remember what we did in WW2.

Those are lovely. Thank you for sharing them!

Very moving, thanks for posting...

Thanks bigs, very nice piece...Need more programs for those returning vets..

I cried.

Thanks. Shameless bragging on my kid I guess, but a parent has to recognize them when they do a little something well!

Thank you to those of you who served, who continue to serve and to your families.

We can never reapy you for your sacrifices but are forever indebted.

We appreciate your selflessness, courage, and commitment. You are the best of us.

Happy Veterans Day.

Love this. :)

Those were really good. You must be proud. :)

You have good reason to be proud. Good editing is so incredibly hard to do. One of those things where, if it's done well, you don't even notice it.

Thanks.