Thank you veterans

November 11, 5:11 AMHarford County Education Headlines ExaminerRichard Webster

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    (Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall / from Microsoft™ Office Online)

George Webster, my 85-year-old father, is a World War II Army veteran who still proudly raises the American flag outside his Florida home every morning.

Dad never talks about his war days much - except he always likes to share one anecdote about being in a fox hole and trying to have a tin cup filled with hot tea. A swarm of ants got into his tea – but as it was his only cup he drank it anyway - ants and all.  I think the reason he liked to tell that story was to serve as straight man for my mother, who always tacked on “ . . . and your father is still gassy today”  (and I cleaned up Mom’s actual wording for this article).

Mom’s only brother, Mickey Cardone, never made it back home from WWII. A 20 year young Marine, he died from wounds he received overseas in the service of his country.

Thanks Dad, and Uncle Mick.

Thank you for doing what no man or woman should ever have to be called upon to do – go to war.

The Vietnam conflict was winding down but still going strong in 1973 when I was a draft-age 18 year old, first semester freshman in college. I never liked the bad rap our Vietnam veterans received back in those days. I was very thankful for the service they performed, not only for our country, but especially for one 18 year old who never had to go to Vietnam because our veterans from that era were over there taking care of business.

WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the cold war, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan – think of the sheer numbers of Americans it’s taken just during the modern age to keep our country safe.  Imagine the sacrifices they and their families have made.

Thank you veterans, one and all.

 In this Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 photo, Bill Staton cleans a Vietnam Veterans memorial to the five servicemen killed from the small town, in Shelby, Ohio. A parade planned Saturday in a small Ohio city solely to honor Vietnam veterans is the latest in a recent flurry of similar events and legislation around the nation recognizing those who fought in the unpopular war. The sudden and belated honors are being fueled by guilt over the chilly reception many of the veterans initially received and by the warm embrace being given to soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Lt. Arlene Decindio, 26, of Tuscarora, Pennsylvania, right, stands in front of a U.S. flag flying at half mast aboard the U.S. guided missile destroyer USS Benfold docked in Manama, Bahrain, on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, during a ceremony marking the inauguration of a new expeditionary strike force. The flag was lowered in honor of the American soldiers killed in the mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, in the United States. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

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