This past weekend I had the opportunity to listen to the Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio (NPR). While I enjoy this program tremendously, I usually do not make a big deal about it. But this weekend's show really struck a chord.
This weekend's Prairie Home Companion show featured a veteran of the attack on Pearl Harbor. This gentleman served on the USS Ward which guarded the mouth of Pearl Harbor and actually fired the first shots of the war as it caught a Japanese midget sub sneaking into the harbor. This gentleman went on for almost half an hour about his call up to duty; his time in Hawaii; December 7th; etc. It was awesome.
I thought about the few stories I got out of my father about his time in WWII. But unfortunately I was not old enough or bold enough to ask for more. I mention this because as we approach Veterans Day, most Americans forget what a Veteran is. These were men and women who left their homes, their homeland, their lives so that we might thrive. These were men and women who fought in the Civil War, WWI and WWII where hundreds if not thousands of friends and compatriots died in a single day. These are men and women who were drafted or volunteered but did as they were told and fought in Korea or Vietnam.
Living in Texas, as I do, there are a great deal of military people who have served or are going to serve in Iraq. One constantly runs into a soldier or a National Guardsman who has numerous stories to share about their time in Baghdad or Basra. We need to approach the Veterans of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and ask them to tell us the stories too. Ask about the boat trips to England, the victory parties in Rome and Paris, the winters in Seoul, the jungles of Vietnam. The veteran who spoke so eloquently this weekend offered so much then and so much now. We owe it to these brave people to ask questions and... just listen.
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