Here's the latest one:
"Subject: Thank You Veterans!
Importance: High November 11-12, 2018
Thank you Veterans! My hope, as always, is that this note finds you on these special days – feeling the gratitude of the nation for your past or present military service. Even with this now occurring over two days each November, it is but a fraction of the entire year – and as such is just a brief moment to shine the light of recognition upon what is yours all year, every year. The honor and privilege is yours – both personally and as a group encompassing all who have served. So remember and acknowledge this in whatever way suits you – but please also stand to be recognized by others – for you most certainly deserve it. In addition to receiving the recognition you are due, I make one other small request. I do this often… so I’ll do it again. It revolves around the topic of sharing. Each of you has a rich personal history – including not only your time of service, but also what has followed that across your lifetime. Clearly there are memories that are difficult or impossible to share to this day, but there are many more that can and should be brought to light. And why? Because service means a lot of things to people. It is not confined to the grandiose, famous moments dubbed by historians. More often, it is a collection of small moments in time, single decisions, diligence, preparation, anticipation, doing one’s task as a part of a much larger effort. At one time, our fledgling nation all but expected service from everyone. Serving and protecting was a normal part of life for essentially everyone as the colonies were constructed in the wilderness.
Many of the conflicts in our past were of such large scale that nobody could escape the knowledge of what these entailed. Our own so-called Civil War was fought tenaciously on our own soil – across much of the country – with unprecedented levels of involvement by American citizens and destruction of American property. It would seem that everyone knew – either from first-hand experience in combat or in direct experience of the outcomes upon our lands.
Later, in the two “Great” wars that marked the early 20th century, though not fought on continental U.S. soil, the level of involvement in both people and resources was staggering – such that one could not avoid feeling, seeing, or experiencing the impacts first-hand. In stark contrast to this, our more recent history is far different in times of conflict.
Never before in our history has our military directly involved so small a percentage of our population. Most conflicts are in far-away distant places. Impacts on the rest of the population are often minimal or easily overlooked. Yet in this technology-driven age, we are all but bombarded with information about our conflicts: news, images, videos, etc. It’s there everywhere: in print, on TV, on the radio, and most of all – on our computers and smart phones. Small snippets of it – everywhere.
So what’s the problem here? The problem is that we have almost nobody actually experiencing any of this. The vast majority of us rely upon or only get what others craft for us to see and hear. And unfortunately, sharing of news or just informing is not the only motivation for this.
More often than not, the intent is to convince, create, manipulate, or discourage a specific point of view. This approach may have started in Korea and reached a crescendo during Vietnam, but it simply didn’t stop there.
So why do I bring this up?
Because it forms the basis for another reason to share: to counteract (or maybe confirm) what the digital media world is already sharing en masse. Sharing your experiences gives a broader understanding of both conflict and of service. You don’t have to sugar-coat it or make any grand presentations, but those who you know (and many others) will value and cherish what you share because it is your own specific and personal experience. It shaped who you are; let it shape others around you – and maybe our country as a whole too. In closing today, I would like to share two brief stories. I know these in concept, but they lack detail as they are not my own. Simple stories of service really, that had a profound impact on the lives of all involved. The first story is about a young man we’ll call Pedro. He was bright, motivated, studious. He wanted to go to college, but his family didn’t have the resources for that to ever occur. Thanks to his participation in the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps., he was able to go to college and eventually graduated with advanced degrees in education. He served in the Pacific during the tense early stages of the Cold War. And after returning home, he raised a family and spent a career teaching & educating children. He served, built a better life for himself, and affected the lives of many others. The second is about a young man we’ll call Andrew. He emigrated to this country as a teenager. When Selective Service came calling shortly after, most of his friends decided to return to their birth country. But Andrew decided that if military service for his new country was asked, then that was a part of the price of citizenship. That choosing one meant accepting both. He served in the Army in Europe, awaiting orders for Korea that never came. So he returned home, raised a family, and built a career supervising & training others in construction. He served, built a better life for himself, and affected the lives of many others. In both of these stories – and in yours – service was an important part of the story.
How important? Only you can ascertain that. Service may involve painful experiences that forever shape your life. It may also reinforce concepts of practice, preparation, diligence, decision making. Does it build character or just reveal it? What wisdom have you gained? How did it make you better? Or collectively, how can it make us better?
All of this has value – both in what it means to you and what it can mean to others.
Your service provided safety and protection for us all. It shaped you then and continues to shape those around you now. Accept what is yours today. Know that you have our admiration and respect. Stand with pride knowing that your service to your country matters – then and now. Sacrifice. Courage. Honor. Thank you Veterans!
Sincerely,
The Christensen Family"
I am however dismayed that Patriotism in America has been eroding steadily and many of the young could care less about our veterans and their sacrifices, targeting them as pawns of a imperialistic government. Obama spearheaded this movement on his worldwide "apologetic tour" highlighting America's past "sins" as POTUS.
The Rock
