VETERANS DAY

So you got a day off, a break, a holiday and you’re gonna sit back and relax, watch some TV, maybe do some baking or go hunting, right? Tell ya what, us Vets were and are damn happy to make this day for you and us – yup, we are proud that we could serve our country wearing our nation’s military uniform.

I remember my early days in the Air Force, scared but confident, in fact a bit over confident and full of myself. I would soon realize that I was part of a huge team and a team player and it was gonna be one hell of a wonderful ride.

Some how I got through basic training and discovered that I did have left and right feet and arms and that on a given command one or the other could perform the execution of a right or left turn. Failure to comply usually saw you getting a rock and carrying it until you were absolutely sure you knew your right from your left. Lemme tell ya, eating, walking, showering and sleeping with a rock was one fast way to distinguish right from left!

After basic or perhaps during it the Air Force seemed to ascertain a hidden potential and sent me off to technical school – holy sheet, what was I gonna do now? Oh I was gonna continue this damn marching for a while longer but now I’d actually attend classes and use my brain. I swear they took it from me during basic training because only when they said you could do something was it permitted. Finally basic and tech school was over and I was now assigned to my first permanent party base. Hey, don’t get this wrong--it was no party but at least now I only had one roommate and at times, a room all to myself. I didn’t have to march around anymore and had an assigned job which I was expected to be at every day and in the proper uniform.

My supervisor was a “witch” for a pressed, wrinkled free uniform and I stood inspection each morning. Hey, Lady you do realize I ride a bus to work and sometimes, I know it sounds horrible, I sit down so a few wrinkles do happen! After listening to her rants for a few days, I learned not only to ride the bus standing up but eating breakfast standing up too. Oh ya, she was definitely my hero -- NOT!

Eventually she decided this was no longer fun and gave up this nonsense, thank goodness! Then she did become my hero because she's the one who marched my sorry arse to the base Education Office and said, "this airman is going to college, and she'll be taking this course and that course." That was the start of my college education and I thank her every day for dragging me to the ED office and getting me started!


As I settled into my work, school and got promotions it wasn't long and soon I was headed to Vietnam where I would spent 18 months and see things I would have dearly loved to have missed. I arrived just a few months before the Tet Offensive so I got to see and experience that first hand -- not pretty my friends, not pretty at all! It was after this that every one carried a weapon and I gotta tell ya, hauling an M16 around became as common as draping a purse over my shoulder( a bit uncomfortable at times but hey, it also provided a sense of comfort too). Plus I was no longer permitted to wear AF blue (we stuck out real good in that color) and now I was wearing Army jungle fatigues and boots -- oh man, those boots were something else! Hey, this was not a fashion show, it was a war zone and looks didn't count for crap - staying alive was what counted!

Eventually we all came home, in various ways and with various issues and memories, not to mention opinions and viewpoints. But unlike other military personnel there was no welcoming parades or parties for us, hell no, we were spit upon, called names and treated like we were the lowest animal form on the planet. We had served our country, followed orders and now we were made to feel like dirt and we didn't understand it then or now! But we held our heads up high and honored our comrades who served with us and who died in the process -- nothing would make us see their sacrifices as unworthy -- nothing!

Yes, that was many years ago and we have finally been given closure and a nation's thanks. Whether you agreed or disagreed with this conflict and our involvement, the fact remains we did serve there and we shall honor those who did. So on this day, if you see a Vet, tell them thanks and let's support our troops each and every day.

God Bless America!