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Today is November 11, otherwise known as Veterans Day. This day has enormous importance to me for two reasons.
First, my dad was a Marine and served on the front lines of Vietnam. I still can't fathom what it must have been like to be a 19 year old kid, living in SE Asia, watching people around you get killed and wondering if you might be next.
It got worse during the last six months of his tour of duty because he received a little blue ribbon from my mom... signifying he was now the proud father of a little baby boy -- me. So now he's not just worried about making his new bride a widow but his son fatherless.
That's why I proudly sing the national anthem at football games, require even my youngest son to hold his hand over his heart during the pledge of allegiance and in get choked up every time I see the missing man formation fly overhead before a sporting event.
Today is all about the veterans... as it should rightly be but today I want you to celebrate Veterans Day in a different way. I want you to not just thank a vet, but more importantly, thank his wife (or her husband) for supporting that service man or woman. I'll even make it easy for you to find them...
Just click this link to quickly use Google to search the bios of all Twitter users.This particular search will return all the Twitter users that have listed "Army Wife" in their bio. To find Marine, Navy or Air Force wives, just change the word Army in the search query to Marine, Navy or Air Force and you'll be able to support those wives too. Once you find the list, randomly pick (don't everyone pick the first wife or first five -- spread out the love folks) and then send a simple message on Twitter like "@mouthyarmymama - may God bless you and your husband today and keep him safe during his time in the Army."
Why do this? Well because as scared as my dad must have been and as hard as it was on him, I've got to think my mom was feeling pretty scared too. A new mom, wondering if her husband would come home on a plane or in a box, watching all that death on the news every night. And you've got to know there are things she never told him, difficulties she was having, etc., lest she cause him to worry. So IMHO Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force wives are the unsung heroes of Veterans Day. So give'em a little shout out today.
Oh, and you're sitting there wondering what the second reason is that this day is so important to me..... it's because 15 years ago at 7:50pm (approximately) my lovely wife said I Do and I became one lucky guy.
Happy Veterans Day Dad and Mom... and Happy Anniversary Sweetie.
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Photo By The U.S. Army
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