A Veterans Day Post

Happy Veterans Day!  I'd be remiss if I didn't take a minute to thank all of those who have served our country.  All that have signed their name on the line not knowing how, where, or when they would be answering the call, but they were willing to do it all the same.  When I think back on our history I am amazed at all those who sacrificed so much to give us The Land of the Free.  When you look around the world at other countries, that is an amazing title to bear.  The Land of the Free.  It means so much.

My grandpa Anthony Marrone served in WWII.

My grandma married him during this time.  Who could resist that handsome Italian in uniform?  Sadly we can't find much of his clothing, medals, documents from his service, and he passed away in 1980.  My mom and I have made it our mission to find all we can.

And of course there's my favorite Veteran, my hubby.  He's been in the Army National Guard for 12 years, and worked full-time for the Guard for almost three years now.  He doesn't do it for the recognition, in fact he hate's the attention he gets from his service.  It's what he always wanted to do.  He played army as a young kid and almost always had some sort of camouflage on.  When we talk about the possibility of him changing units for a promotion or other reasons, he won't do it.  He doesn't want to leave the guys that he's served with for so long.  That's the main reason he serves, for his buddies.  If he volunteers for a deployment, it's because he can't stand the thought of not being there for them when things get rough.

I love the last line of Flags of our Fathers (the movie).
"Heroes are something we create, something we need. It's a way for us to understand what's almost incomprehensible, how people could sacrifice so much for us, but for my dad and these men, the risks they took, the wounds they suffered, they did that for their buddies. They may have fought for their country but they died for their friends. For the man in front, for the man beside him, and if we wish to truly honor these men we should remember them the way they really were, the way my dad remembered them."

This is the day he got home from his second deployment.