Tuesday, the American Veterans Day, a holiday wherein one should remember or honor US war veterans. Of course, it is in reality Armistice Day, the signing of the declaration ending The Great War, aka, World War I - for everyone except the French whom found it easier to attack and kill Germans for five more months now that they were unarmed. Of course, never expect the USA to honor actual history nor celebrate a worldwide observed day for those in WWI. But, I digress ...
And there are lots of Vets amongst my friends on Facebook. And every year there is a list someone posts thanking all of the Vets and irritatingly I am constantly on that list! No, I never served in any war, nor in any army. I may have been trained by the US Army, but I was turned over to the Israelis to do something politically incorrect, unlike ALL of my friends whom went to Vietnam. I balked and refused. Bad Kris. And yet, somehow my name keeps popping up! I swear there must be some list my name is on, somewhere, even though the US Army swears all my records were destroyed. Hmmmm ... why don't I trust them? Oh yeah, because they played me for a fool for three years and then lied about it in Federal Court for the next two years! Grrrrrr!, as my second daughter is so prone to say.
I know in my father's family, you would have to go back to the Muslim siege of Vienna, to find one of his ancestors whom had actually been involved in a war. Yeah, his name was Fredrick and the ancestor of my grandfather Plattner, and since a Habsburg, also related to my grandmother distantly. Of course being Swiss sort of kept grandfather, and should have my father, out of such situations.
In my mother's family, only grandmother's last husband had been in WWII. Her father had been a drummer boy in the Zulu War. And, her first husband had ancestors in the US Civil War, on both sides, yeah same person. And he, was the grandson of Daniel Boone, whom seemed unable not to get in a fight. Not exactly a meritorious service record amongst the Plattner nor the Scotts forefathers!
Grandmother is buried in the veterans cemetery here in King County of Washington. No she was not a Vet but she did serve as the librarian at a US Army airfield outside of Portland, Oregon during World War II. When a bookshelf collapsed, she broke her left foot rather badly and received an Army pension for the rest of her life! We used to joke that she received a Purple Heart for her injuries. Well until she married Reuben, her last husband, he did earn the Purple Heart by being hit by a sniper on the second day of the Italian invasion in WWII. Of course, he took his in the butt and was the butt of many jokes! Yeah, he never talked about it.
Even though I never served in any military, that does not mean I am not appreciative of those whom have. One of my few "friends" at the church I attend was in Iraq I, a tank commander, and yeah pretty messed up mentally. And I do pray for him because his life has not been easy, only compounded by problems with his wife, another victim of that war. But no one counts the costs on families these wars create.
Take a moment and remember ... any freedom you have in this world was bought with a price someone had to pay ...
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