With today being Veterans’ Day, I want to encourage you to think about all of our veterans, employed or unemployed, and take time to thank them. They gave up so much in sacrifice so each of us can have the freedoms we have today. As a military veteran myself, it has always been a honor when someone says to me or sends me a note thanking me for my service. It is the little things in life that make a difference and that we remember. I like how the VFW has encouraged us to restore Veterans Day and the 23.8 million veterans living today deserve the recognition.
What is a Veteran? (copied from http://www.forcerecon.com/veteran.htm):
“You can’t tell a vet just by looking.
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.
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 parade – riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies 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 that 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.
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That’s all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.”
If you know a fellow job seeker who is a veteran, give them special attention and consider buying them a cup of coffee, lunch or dinner. Many restaurants in the Kansas City area are offering free meals or discounts to veterans where you could take a veteran. Give them a Veterans Day card that you can find at a local Hallmark store. Or say those two simple words: Thank You.
Much like Toby Keith sings in this song, we need to remember our American Soldiers:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWrMeBR8W-c]