Veterans Day 2015

Dear readers, this is the very special day on which we honor our veterans - the courageous, self-sacrificing men and women who defend our liberties and freedom with their lives - Veterans Day in America and Armistice Day in Europe. I always feel that all the words have been written and said. Our role is simply to say with profound gratitude "Thank you" for being there and for watching over us. So, before the day ends, here are the words of those who have gone before us. ~~~~~ "The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it." (Thucydides). ~~~~~ “The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.” (Patrick Henry). ~~~~~ “Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.” (Abraham Lincoln). ~~~~~ "It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the organizer, who gave us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag." (Father Dennis Edward O’Brien, USMC). ~~~~~ "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation." (George Washington). ~~~~~ “Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.” (Dwight D. Eisenhower). ~~~~~ “Never give in -- never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” (Winston Churchill). ~~~~~ And, finally, as is so often the case, George Washington reminds America of its constitutional government, even in time of war : "The Constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure. (George Washington).