Some Gave All

Still thinking of you, Dad. I was lucky that you were here while I grew up. Your birthday came and went here last Friday. You would have been walking your 90th year in this world.

I know many of your friends never made it off the beaches when you guys decided to visit France and even more fell as you chased Hitler all the way to Berlin.

Some of your friends stayed behind in Korea, and even more in Viet Nam.

Men who have chosen the honorable path of the warrior still fall today in far off lands. Spilling their blood for a an honorable cause.

All of these guys don't even rate a foot note in history books. While liars and thieves buy their way into places like Arlington. They missed out on so much. Families, children, warm summer nights, cool fall mornings, the smell of hay when it has been kissed by the dew. The crunch of snow, the crispness after a good rain. The warm earthy scent of a newly plowed field.

Today, we remember our fallen. We remember their sacrifice. Their deeds.

When you sit down to your BBQ, or on your porch to watch the setting of the sun, set a place and pour a drink for an honored guest who may only be there in spirit.