VETERANS DAY 2023

 

November 11 is Veterans Day. We set aside two days each year to celebrate our veterans. Memorial Day is primarily dedicated to fallen veterans while Veterans Day is dedicated to celebrating all veterans of military service. 

 

I, along with many others in my age group, am a veteran. When I was a teenager the draft was a very real probability. So, you either joined or you got drafted. There was no particular patriotism involved with my joining. I joined to keep from being drafted. 

 

The rest of the story is joining the Army was the smartest thing I did as a youngster. I was a seventeen-year-old redneck country boy, with few to no options for a future. College was not a financial possibility for me or for people like me. 

 

So, here I was. Completely bewildered. The army fixed that. They gave me training. I learned things I never knew. I went from East Tennessee to Georgia, to Seattle, Washington, to my final duty station in Germany. I got to see the world. Had I not been in the service, I would never have been able to travel the world. Let me tell you, the world is a lot different from the hills in East Tennessee. It was all an eye opening experience for me. 

 

Now here many years later, I am truly grateful for my time in the Army. I went in as a kid and came out as a full grown man. Today I am enrolled in the VA healthcare system. It may not work for some, but it absolutely works for me. During my recent illness, they couldn't have been more helpful and generous. My every need was taken care of. 

 

I also have a VA loan on my home. That was handled with the utmost professionalism. We couldn't be happier. 

 

People often say to me, "Thank you for your service." My response continues to be, I got so much more from my time in the service than I gave. It is me who is grateful for all that the military has given me. 

 

Of course we don't have a draft now, but I wish we did. I guarantee you, young people would face the world a lot differently if we had a draft. I also recommend today's kids should join the military. You can play video games with real guns and you can contribute to the world. Sounds like a win win to me.

 

Something I read a few days ago is so true, who knows how many wars didn't happen because of the mighty peacetime military we have. Thank you, current service members and all veterans, for that powerful deterrent. And Happy Veterans Day.

 

Ron Scarbro November 7, 2023