Armistice Day

The eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour marks the armistice that stopped the Great War;  the War to end all wars.  We call it now Veteran's Day here in the USA.  I suppose that is okay.  My dad was in the Army National Guard in the late 50's.  I have other relatives that served in the Armed Forces.  I suppose the best one to recognize would be my Uncle Jon.  He graduated from high school and went to Utah State for one year.  He told me that the writing was on the wall that he would be drafted to go to Vietnam so he enlisted in the Army.  During Basic Training the officers over him thought he would be a great candidate for Officer Candidate School.  After OCS he decided he wanted to get all the training he could so he applied and was accepted to Ranger School.  Jumping out of airplanes became second nature to him.  He once told me that the funnest thing you can do is walk out of the back of a C-130 at 30,000 feet.

After Ranger School he was accepted to attended the JFK School for Boys at Ft. Bragg.  He was trained to become a Green Beret.  He arrived in Vietnam as a 22 year old captain, commanding some 600 or so South Vietnamese with 6 Non-coms under him.  They stationed him up by the DMZ at Quang Tri.  Apparently they went for quite a few walks in the woods.  He saw a lot of things none of us want to see and was decorated with a Bronze Star.  He hasn't told me why yet.

The greatest story to come out of all of this is he met a girl on Okinawa.  She was an American, a Northwestern University graduate, who was teaching the children of American servicemen on the Island.  They were married, unbeknownst to any of us back home.  He was telling Joyce and me about the time he was able to get leave on Christmas Eve, flew his way up to Okinawa via the Philippines and walked into the house on Okinawa about midnight.  As he related this story tears were coming out of his eyes.  Aunt Peggy was a little misty eyed too.

I know this stuff was not uncommon and still isn't uncommon with our military, but I am glad I have heard some of the stories and can appreciate the sacrifice and the valor of those who are there to Pay the Price.  Jon's older brother Bruce told me a month or so ago of some experiences he had working as an Engineer at Hill Air Force Base.  At times he had to go to other military installations in the country.  When it was discovered that his last name was Oman they asked him if he was acquainted with a Green Beret name Jon Oman.  He admitted Jon was his youngest brother.  They would then tell him of how Uncle Jon was something of a legend in his day in the Special Forces.

To all our Veterans and in Memory of those who paid the ultimate price, from the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, WWI and WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East conflicts and all the skirmishes and battles known and unknown I express my respect, homage and gratitude.  May we not waste those sacrifices destroying our country from within.