Honoring My Father on Veteran's Day

I dropped a Veteran's Day card in the mail to my father over the weekend. It was a small way for me to honor him and a way to thank him for his service and the sacrifices he made as a soldier in the Vietnam war.

I cannot even begin to fathom what my dad had to go through on a daily basis while he was in Vietnam, but I do know what he has had to go through on a daily basis forty years later. He is still affected by Vietnam, it's always there under the surface, carefully protected during the day, but less so at night. I grieve for what he had to endure then and what he has to endure now, wishing there was some way I could make it better.

I know it has not been an easy road for him, but as I sit here today and think about his sacrifice, that of my uncles who also served in the war, my grandfather who served in Korea, my great uncle who was an Army Chaplain and served in Korea and Vietnam and all of the countless soldiers who have willingly protected this country, both in the past and especially today in Iraq and Afghanistan ... I am deeply grateful for my freedom, for this country and for the selfless sacrifice each soldier has made.

Thank you Dad. I love you.