The proper young combat engineer lieutenant overseas. Me.
If you are of a certain age, your life was ordered by the draft. If you are younger — the vast majority of those reading this are — or a woman, you have no idea what that means. That is not intended to be judgmental. Continue reading
Today is special to me for three reasons:
1. Veterans Day – I am from a military family and I was a professional soldier as a young man;
Respect to all veterans on Veterans Day!
“I, Jeffrey L Minch, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
I took the above oath in 1969 when I matriculated at the Virginia Military Institute at the height of the Vietnam War. I took it again when I was commissioned a Regular Army Second Lieutenant in the Combat Engineers four years later. Continue reading
Monday is Memorial Day, the day upon which we honor and observe, not celebrate, those who lost their lives in service to the Nation in the military during wartime.
Lance Corporal Eric Ward, a fourth-generation U.S. Marine, was killed in Afghanistan on February 21, 2010. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The United States is commemorating Memorial Day this Monday.
As a Nation, we ponder with solemnity the sacrifice these men and women made in service to the Nation.
Big Red Car here on a rainy Austin By God Texas day, a Veterans Day.
Today in church, the minister asked veterans to rise and he had some kind words for all of us veterans.
It brought to mind Isaiah 6:8:
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”
Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”
The veteran is the man (or woman) who upon hearing the voice of the nation asking the same question, says, “Send me. Send me to do what is necessary to protect freedom, to vanquish evil, to free the oppressed. Send me.”
Veterans Day after Election Day feels a little different to me. The Boss is a veteran as were both of his parents. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute — a hard place to be but a good place to be from.
Every veteran in America is in a better position today than they were on Monday. We have a chance that the Veterans Administration will get sorted out and that we will have a Commander-in-Chief who will actually respect and act on behalf of veterans other than on Veterans Day.
I should have a lot more to say but that about summarizes it.
Big Red Car here on a grayish and muggy Veteran’s Day in the ATX.
There are three things about 11 November that are important.
First, it is Veteran’s Day. Second, Virginia Military Institute and Austin, Texas were both founded on 11 Novemberr 1839.
That is the trifecta! Continue reading
Big Red Car here. The Boss is on the road again and is attending the Veterans Day parade in New York City while me and the housesitter are having our own little celebration. And why not?
The Boss has a funny view of things as it relates to being a Veteran. His Father, his Mother and he are all Veterans. His Father is 96 years old and is retired from the Army. So The Boss’s interest in the military is the family business kind of interest.
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