Remembrance....................

I spent this morning with my husband at the VA Outpatient Clinic in Fort Worth. How fitting I thought to be there on this day, September 11, 2013. What you see there are the faces of people who have given up so much to strengthen the United States of America. My husband spent the 20th year of his life in a jungle fighting the most unpopular war known in the history of this great country. He carries the battle scars of that year to this day....both physical and emotional. He carries them with pride but also, I must say, with more than a little anger. They, the Viet Nam vets, were never welcomed home with flags or handshakes or pats on the back. Instead when they set foot back on the safe soil of their country, they were ridiculed, spit open and openly hated. It is not the point of this blog to rehash history. What is the point is that on this very day, as I sat in the lobby of this very fine facility, I saw faces of heroes every few feet. Some struggled to walk because of age...these were our WWII vets. Some couldn't walk because they, my friends, lost legs protecting you. Some were so young with faces so vacant as to almost be invisible. They never looked to the right nor left. They never acknowledged their surroundings. They were the ghosts of Iraq and Afghanistan. These young women and men literally broke my heart in two. Whether or not they were forced to go to war as in WWII, Korea or Viet Nam, or whether they stepped up to the plate and volunteered, in modern day service, each one of them carries their own very personal struggles and will until the day they die. Trauma does many things to people. Trauma day after day after day, builds emotional walls that I know alters these heroes forever. And on this very day, as we remember NYC and what happened, we also must remember that the branches of the service are not the only men and women who risk whatever it takes to protect. We can never forget that firemen, and policemen, and others put their lives on the line, literally, every day for you. I saw many people today. Those who were working and those who were seeking and struggling to overcome whatever the hand they were dealt. But you know what? There were flags flying and handshakes given and pats on the back for the vets. There were lowered voices for those who needed comfort and laughter and smiles for veterans who were ready to receive those gestures. We are always treated like heroes when we go there. We are always meant to feel gratitude and respect for that year in Viet Nam and for that young man of 20 who was sent to grow up spending each day fighting a silent war. I hold my heart in my hand every time we enter this facility. The anguish, the suffering acknowledged, but also the efforts of a staff to make things just a little better. A staff who meets you head on and says Thank You Sir for your service. So lesson learned....you may not see a veteran every day, but you DO see firemen and policemen and partners of those who raced into those burning buildings to save your fellow Americans on 9/11. Don't pass up a thank you. Don't ever forget. That would be the biggest insult of all.