Military Family Blog Carnival: Veterans' Day...

This week's Military Family Carnival Theme is: Veterans' Day...

This one is wide open--a biography of your favorite veteran, what the day means to you, pictures of your hometown parade, ideas for ways to honor our veterans...whatever you would like to share about the day! On Friday, I will move this post back up to the top and copy your links into the main body of the post.

Growing up in a small town in suburban New York, I did not think very much about veterans. There was the occasional visit to the retirement home, where some veterans lived. And my grandfather is a veteran of the Korean War, having served as a musician. Occasionally, there was reference to the men and women who had served when we studied the World Wars in history class.

Mostly, though, Veteran's Day was just a day off from school for us. A chance to stay up late on Sunday and go to a midnight showing at the movie theater or have an extra party that weekend.

I've been spending this weekend with my favorite veteran and trying to think about the meaning of this day.

Today is about honoring the men and women who have committed themselves to serving this country.

They protected our nation and fought when called upon to do so by our elected representatives.

Even after their service, many continue to look after the soldiers who still serve. Speaking for those who are asked to remain silent in the name of military discipline and readiness.

On Veterans' Day, we let them know that we value their sacrifices and have not forgotten them. We acknowledge that they spent many months, even years, away from their families, so that we could enjoy ours. We stop to think about the nights they spend sleeping on cold, wet ground, so that we could rest in comfort. We remember all the hours that dragged on while they willingly placed themselves in harm's way so that we could be safe.

But it shouldn't stop with just today.

I urge you to visit the Veterans Affairs site and find out about pending veteran legislation and also the House Committee on Veteran Affairs. Visit the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation to find out more about how you can support their programs. Write a note for a veteran and drop it off at a Veterans' Affairs Medical Center. Wave that flag proudly as the veterans parade by.

Most importantly, please remember to thank any veteran you meet for serving our country.

I hope you will join me this week and share a post about Veteran's Day:

1. Please post on the theme. If you do not have a blog, ask to hijack a friend's for the day or consider Guest Blogging your post on An Army Wife's Life.
2. Please link back to this post so your readers will come read and maybe participate, too.
3. Add your post title and specific post URL (not your entire blog) to Mr. Linky.
   

To encourage participation, I will be offering a prize. At the end of the month, one participant will be chosen at random to win a copy of Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox: Dispatches from Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I am really hoping you'll join me and that this will build, because I think it would be fun!

UPDATE: I'm moving this to the top so everyone can see these cool posts. I'll place them and any others that are added in the meantime as permalinks sometime on Sunday and then the next topic will be up on Monday (Being part of the Military Family makes me thankful for...). So please visit these cool posts, comment, and start thinking about your next post.

Please read, visit, and comment:

1. beth
2. Lynn
3. Sallie
4. Laura @ Laura Williams' Musings