To those with whom I served, that stayed in and ended up with many years longer than they’d ever expected — thank you.
To my first husband and Adorable Child’s father, who served this country for 19 years until medical retirement forced him out. 19 years not being long enough, you went back in as support, and deployed with the very first troops to Iraq… and it destroyed you.
Thank you for your service. We miss you.
To my father, and both of his brothers, for serving when their country called — and bringing back stories that warm the spirit and make the soul cringe — thank you.
To my great-great grandfathers, who volunteered to fight in the Civil War, in defense of this country and all that it was supposed to stand for — thank you.
To my great-great-great-great grandfathers, who served in the fight for the founding of this great nation — thank you.
Thank you all — fathers, brothers, sons, mothers, sisters, cousins, daughters, for helping make this country all that it is. We’re a better place because of you.
Happy Veteran’s Day.
Read Next
So. It’s done. Surgery was Wednesday, and I was released around noon Thursday (yesterday) to come home. Turns out that coming home is very difficult… because it’s ever-more clear with each passing hour that I had surgery on my spine …
It was difficult to listen to the president describe the coming troop “surge” in Iraq — to give his proposal a fair hearing — because there’s so much water under this bridge. And 20,000 troops hardly sounds like a surge; …
Polimom recently asked AC what she thought happened first after 9/11, and I was completely unsurprised to hear her say that we’d gone into Iraq. Now, AC is nine, and to a child, the 3+ years of the Iraqi War …
Dear Husband and I were discussing this very question the other day: Why do the Democratic candidates refuse to acknowledge progress in Iraq? It’s quite glaring, in fact, and I’m glad WaPo has brought the issue into the light of …

