Thanks to those that serve

When I was born this day was still called Armistice Day honoring the end of WW1. It was a memorable day in my young life; I was 17 days old when the great Armistice Day blizzard hit Minnesota and the surrounding states. I grew up with the horror stories of what happened that day. So for Minnesotans and the rest of the upper Midwest it was a day of terror and sadness.
It started out with being a beautiful warm last of fall day for the five or six states, this warm day caught travelers, hunters, everyone by surprise, Minnesota got 27 inches of snow with up to 80 MPH winds, in the states affected 145 people died.
It is amazing how we think in terms of ourselves and what affects us. To my mother this day was remembered because of the blizzard and the fact that I was a newborn. She must have been frightened out of her mind for her family to put the blizzard on the forefront of the day of remembrance.
The first fourteen years of my life this day was Armistice Day then in 1954 it became Veterans Day. In order to honor all the veterans of WW1 and WW2. To my mother it never changed. Very year I would hear the story of the blizzard.
When did I realize the importance of Veterans Day? I would say it was gradual, I knew men that served in Korea, and then Viet Nam. And I do think that the way the Viet Nam vets were treated  so poorly by too many of this country,  that led to my joining and belonging a group that honored the vets became important to me. I joined the American Legion through my brother that fought in WW2 and proudly marched in the parades, to help support veterans, the visits to the VA hospital, Sending them packages of the things they needed but could not afford, to stand as honor guards to vets as they left the church when they were finally laid to rest.
I wonder who is going to do this when we are gone. How many young people are taught to honor those people who serve and have served?  We have a new generation of vets, and thankfully  less soldiers died than in earlier  military action, but we have more Veterans that need our help and prayers. The challenges these men face everyday is another battle for them to fight. They need our prayers and anything else we can do for them.
As a nation we have forgotten to teach our young, for them to learn the sacrifices so many have given.  Too many people give lip service to being patriotic and then move on to change what these men and women fought and fight for. Is a puzzle to me, you simply can not have it both ways, You either give in to the apathy that is so pervasive in this country or you stand  up for what the United states of America means. So on this day I give thanks to all that have served, that serve now and will serve in the future. You all are our heroes.