Today is Veteran's Day in the United States, Rememberance Day in the U.K was yesterday. I want to take a minute to publicly thank all the men and women who choose to serve their country in uniform. They sacrifice much and ask little in return. For all they do to keep the United States truly the home of the free and the land of the brave, thank you. Three of my uncles were military veterans. Two of my uncles served in World War II and another served in the Korean Conflict. They went to war because they were drafted by the military. They served their country, the very same one that opened it's doors to my late paternal grandparents.
It is because our soldiers and sailors that we can enjoy all the rights and privileges of this dysfunctional country. I've always maintained that the United States of America is far from a perfect country. We argue, shut down governments, get on our soap boxes, and, generally , all think that we can do a better job then whoever is in the White House. However, for better or worse, I still would not want to live anywhere else. Part of what makes perfectly imperfect country work so well are people like my uncles, who when called, put on uniforms and served. It's people like the men and women around the world who willingly put on a uniform and serve. In once an aeronautic engineer who put himself through university on a Reserve Office Training Corps scholarship. I thanked him for his service and he was put off by my gratitude and the gratitude of others because he didn't feel that he was contributing much. I reminded him that he chose the life and what he does is part of the greater good. I firmly believe that no matter how small or large a soldier or sailor's contribution is, it's all part of the greater good, defending the rights of people across the socio-economic-political spectrum to fly their freak flag. Regardless of where you live in the world, remember there is someone in uniform defending your right.
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