To all of our veterans and current men and women serving democracy, who put it on the line for our freedoms, Thank you. The military members in my family are some of the best people I know, even when I don't agree with them. They still have the integrity to think of country first
Memorial day is for those we have lost in service to their country. Thank all of you who have served and are currently serving. This week my niece became a Marine. My Cousin, an EOD tech embedded with SEALS. My Uncle was UDT. Dad, National Guard. Father in law, Marine pilot.
The sacrifices they have made and the nightmares some saw while serving stay with them. Our military abuses their bodies, they do the jobs none of us want to do, they are sent to the most dangerous places, gallows humor keeps them going in the darkest times. They are our best.
Our military may have started as "us," but after training and being pushed to their physical and mental limits, they become next level humans. Then we ask them to put their lives in danger and they say "I'm on it." They are hailed time after time, then ignored during peacetime.
Their benefits cut back, their hospitals decades older than others. They continue to be soldiers long after they are out. Because of their oath, they're never really out. I looked up what to say on Memorial day, one of the things is "Enjoy your weekend" @VP said it & got reamed.
Yet that is what you say, It has a double meaning, "We honor you this day for your sacrifice" yet it's also a sardonic slam by the soldiers that put their lives on the line, some living with scars of war forever. "Thanks for putting your life on the line, here's a random Monday"
Unless you have been through it you can't know what they go through to become soldiers. I don't, and wouldn't assume. So many times they are ordered into situations by the powerful, protected, politicos who use platitudes, and like me, twitter, to acknowledge them this weekend.
Our soldiers need to be acknowledged everyday. They have held off dictators, they have freed the oppressed, they have shred blood for people they didn't know, they have died for you and me. There is no "Happy" in Memorial Day. It is a solemn day for those we've lost defending us.
So when you see a soldier this weekend, thank them for their service, let them know you get their sacrifice, not just their bodies but relationships, years away from loved ones, careers they need to start after they already gave all they had. For that, they get one long weekend.
*shed
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
