I Never Served

I never served. I grew up in the 70's and early 80's. A relative time of peace. Viet Nam was over and although we were still Cold Warring with the Soviets there wasn't much going on militarily. The military had crappy PR back then. It was almost like you only went there if you couldn't do anything else. There was no "Be All You Can Be" or "The Few The Proud". They didn't try to sell you on all the cool programs, maybe because there weren't as many programs as computers were still in their infancy. It's not like I wouldn't have served, it just never even occurred to me.



I never served. There wasn't a lot of military in my family. My mom's dad served in WWII in the Navy. He was in the South Pacific, but didn't see much combat. At least he didn't talk about it much. One of my mom's four brothers enlisted in the Navy during Viet Nam. I don't think he ever made it to Viet Nam. He served near Greenland. My dad's brother was in the army, but I never even heard one story about that.



I never served. I have been to a lot of different monuments to the different wars. We spent almost half a day in DC looking at the different war memorials. I don't know that I even know anyone's name on any one of those monuments. I don't know if I even knew anyone who lost a husband or a son or a brother. That has never stopped me from crying when I stand in front of the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial in DC. Every time I am there I visit it. I don't know why I have an affinity for that particular monument, but it leaves me awestruck every time I see it. There is something acoustic in the design that sucks all ambient sound out of the air. There is a eerie, but majestic silence down near that sleek black wall.



My grandpa (mom's dad) died recently, and at the end of funeral ceremony my son played "Taps" while my two cousins, in Air Force dress blues saluted their grandfather. It was at that moment, while I cried, that I knew I had missed something. I never served when I was of that age, but now I serve. I serve by thanking veterans every chance I get, with applause as they walk by in parades or with a thank you when I am near. I serve by being as patriotic a role model as I can any time I am front of kids. I serve by teaching kids that it is veterans who have made all of our freedoms possible.



It is not at all the same as wearing the uniform. I am the first to admit, but at this time, at this age, it is all I can offer. Thank you to all veterans who served. Thank you more to all who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you to all military families who gave up their loved ones for a short time or forever.