In the last few hours left in today I thought I would talk about Veteran’s Day.  I know that maybe this holiday may get lost on a lot of people my age (18-25), but this day is always held special in my heart.

I come from a family with a very long history of veterans.  All the way back to my great great great great uncle (I may be missing a great in there) who fought in the Civil War, to my great-grandfather who fought in WW I and both grandfathers who fought in WW II, my uncle who fought in the Korean War, my father who was in Vietnam, and my cousin who came back from Iraq about a year ago.  What a selfless family I have!

It’s interesting because I have heard this reaction many times among vets, especially WW II vets. When I called my grandfather today to tell him thank you for giving so many years of his life to our country, and his response was:  “No thanks needed.”  He said that he had an amazing time while in the navy, and that he wouldn’t have done anything differently.  It was his duty.

My other grandfather came into Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941.  I can’t imagine the carnage that he saw on that day, and the fact that he still went on to go and fight in WW II I find to be amazing.

My father was one of the lucky ones who was in Vietnam and came out on the other side, unscathed physically and mentally, and married my mother a short time later.  I love the fact that Dad didn’t wait for the draft, he looked at his situation, and knew that joining up was just the thing to do.

Same issue with my cousin who when he was shipped to Iraq, he went without complaint and did his duty, he loves his job and I know that he would go back to Iraq if he were asked.

In some ways, it makes my life so demeaning.  I work a few hours a day, the rest doing menial tasks around my new home.  But its because of these men and millions of other men who fought so that I can do those things every day without another thought.  Every time I think that life is hard or difficult, I think about what my family has done so that I HAVE a life and I usually shut up.

I have such amazing role models in my life, who have molded me into the person that I am.  I have the Hinders work ethic that I know I get from these honorable men.  I think that I would be an even better person if I had gotten to know my other grandfather who died before I was born.

I guess what I am trying to say is that through second hand experience, I know the sacrifice that veterans have made, and while there is always one day a year that we celebrate veterans, every day should be veteran’s day.  Because it’s not like our freedom only comes once a year, it’s every day.  Men and women are fighting every day to provide us the blanket of freedom.

But for now, I want to say thank you to my veterans: James Murdock, Norman L. Wymard, Wayne Thompson Murdock, Justin Hinders, Leon Murdock, Thomas Hinders, Paul Justin Hinders, and thank you for everything that you have done.  And thank you to every other veteran out there.  Trust in that so many people including myself, thank you for everything that you have done.

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