I hope that Veterans day is much more meaningful to all of us than a shopping day when there are good sales, somehow that just bugs me to see our Veterans and their memory being exploited like that.  On the other hand, if it is done in the spirit of celebration, celebrating what our Veterans have done for us, that is different, but I’m a little skeptical? Correct me if I’m wrong.

It is hard to find enough words to thank all the Veterans that are now serving our Country, and those who have served in the past.  Some will never hear our words of thanks verbally, and are forever young in our memories because their earthly lives have been shortened, but their families need our love, comfort, support and appreciation.

I post this as they are laying the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

I have done posts in the past sharing about some of my family members who are Veterans, and other links that are special to me:

Veterans in My Family - A Post I did last year about my father-in-law, father and grandfather.  Includes links to a few other good sites.

Wounded Warrior Project - Serving those who have given significant sacrifices, both soldiers and their families.

Soldier’s Essay on the War in Iraq

The only true Veteran Candidate for President in 2008 and his story.

And finally, a post I did just in the past couple weeks by a Veteran, please watch it through to the end when he walks away.

There are numerous ways to support our Veterans, do something.

I never get tired of looking at the following photo.

I was delighted to hear a quote stating that the following video is the most watched video of this election year.  I am the 11,797,882 viewer.

I just heard a heart-warming story today on TV about a woman, Martha Roskam, who has spent the past 7 years returning Dog Tags to the families of the Viet Nam Veterans they belong to…whether it be the original owner of the tag, or surviving family members. I had never heard about this before, though it appears from their website that it has been in the news…she has a son who is an Illinois Congressman, former State Senator, who was able to help get the effort started. Just another one of those relatively quiet things that people do that make a difference.

Mrs. Roskam was in Viet Nam on a business trip with her husband, and like any woman, decided to do some shopping. She passed someone selling things on a street in Ho Chi Min City in a flea market setting. She came upon a wicker basket full of coins, and on top of the coins she found 37 dog tags strung on a plastic string, she was deeply moved as she looked through them, knowing what they meant, but wasn’t certain what to do, so left them. She went home and told her husband about the dog tags, and he insisted that she return and pick them up the next day, which she did for 54 cents each.

She returned the last one to it’s owner last week, a 7 year mission that started in August of 2001.  Some dog tags were returned to families that had lost their sons, many to the original owner.

For more on this effort and story, please visit roskamdogtag.com. I can only imagine how many hugs you have enjoyed, Mr. & Mrs. Roskam, and may I add my virtual (((hug))) and thanks for what you’ve done to bring smiles to faces of those who gave, and saw so much during a very difficult time in our history, heroes that didn’t necessarily receive a heroes welcome when they returned home.

It’s hard to believe that we are only a few months away from Christmas, and as time seems to go quickly, it will be here before we know it.

It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that I was sharing with readers on one of my blogs about Christmas Cards Direct, and how they donate blank Christmas Cards to Soldiers’ Angels…they will be doing this again this year, 180,000 cards! Soldiers’ Angels will then deliver the cards to members of the military who are deployed so that they can write home to their families. I think this is such a wonderful thing, because as you know if you’ve read this blog for any period of time, we care about our military, and appreciate what they are doing to protect our Country and our freedom.

Soldiers’ Angels (soldiersangels.org) is a non-profit volunteer organization that provides comfort and relief to friends and family of our military…the organization operates thanks to the support of approximately 200,000 volunteers.

I also visited the card site and found that anyone can purchase Personalized Christmas Cards through them. There was a large variety in the kinds of cards, including patriotic Christmas cards, and you know how much we love patriotism.  Thank you to Christmas Cards Direct AND Soldiers’ Angels!

I guess it’s pretty obvious by now I’m a casual blogger, not jumping on every issue that comes down the pike, and blogging when I’m inspired to do so. Maybe keeping up with several other blogs has a bit to do with it as well.

To state the obvious, in the 10 days since I last posted, Hillary finally said her reluctant “goodbye“…and she really has been silent, hasn’t she? Of course all wonder what her next move will be, will she be on the ticket with Obama, the “dream team” as some democrats and the media like to call it? The thought of it turns me off, not because I am a republican, but because I think that she is far too manipulative, and might do all she can to overshadow Obama.

In the past 10 days a familiar, smiling face will no longer smile at us in person, but only in our memories, through pictures and television…of course I am referring to Tim Russert, who’s wake was in Washington DC today, a closed casket…I like that, it is best to remember him as he was, alive, full of energy, smiling. What a loss, my prayers are with his wife, son, and his father, Russ, made famous by Tim’s book, “Big Russ and Me”. What deep loss must be felt by all. It was kind of a blow to me as my hubby, the inspiration for this blog, suffered a heart attack (he’s doing fine) one year ago ON Father’s Day. I’m feeling extra fortunate to still have him with me.

There have been some town hall meetings…I’ve watched a couple, until the two candidates are face to face, they will be “more of the same” to me….rehashing of the same things over and over again, with slight changes and variations as they form their positions…at least I assume they are still forming them.

Stupidest (is that a word?) thing I saw was just today, the new anti-McCain ad by MoveOn.Org, it’s on their site if you want to view it. It’s based on the idea that McCain will keep soldiers in Iraq for an undetermined amount of time..shows a mother appealing to McCain on behalf of her baby boy who is sitting on her lap, as if when he is a man, McCain will TAKE him from her. Since when are we TAKING soldiers? We haven’t had a draft since Viet Nam, and no one is twisting the arms of soldiers to enlist in the service. They join by CHOICE. Stupid, stupid ad.

In the meantime, prices of oil keep rising, natural disasters keep happening, now airlines will be cutting back dramatically, the stock market remains unstable, the far-reaching affect of so many things is hard to predict.

But still, America is the greatest nation in the world, I really do believe that, we’ve been through hard times before, and God has blessed us. Do I dare say that if we keep forgetting Who has blessed us, keep forgetting to thank Him, keep expecting men to do what only God can do, some of that blessing may be removed? That’s a topic for another day. Good night for now.

Today I was talking to my Mom…she’s a woman of great faith.  We were talking about a wide range of things, including politics, and the upcoming election.  From there we somehow found our way to talking about war.

It started with talk about pulling our troops from Iraq, mention of how that would lead to consequences like the war in Viet Nam, an unfinished war.  My Dad was in Korea, and that, too, was a war that wasn’t quite finished.  I made a comment about how tragic it is that so many lives are lost, and it appears to some to be for nothing, because we just can’t seem to see our wars through to the end.  Believe me, I hate war, it would be abnormal not to, but they are a necessary evil if we are to protect ourselves, and to help our neighbors around the world…which is okay with me, by the way…I am happy that we are helping the oppressed people in Iraq.  I am happy that we are also helping people here in the USA too, we have so much!  We are spoiled, it is selfish not to want to see that for other people, other countries. But getting back to my conversation with Mom…

My mom said something very simple, yet very profound, she said that the wars that we won were won during times when we were more of a God honoring Nation than we have become. That’s all she said.  But it set my mind spinning with thoughts…we have taken God out of our schools by not allowing prayer; argue about whether we should or should not have ten commandments displayed in some places; see the Bible, God’s Word, presented in distorted ways in the media; worship materialism; do not show respect for our President and leaders…I wonder if people even know what the word respect means anymore. Oh I could ramble on, and maybe have offended some, if so, that’s okay if it leads you to do a little thinking of your own.

That was about the only political discussion I had this weekend.  I went to a local political beef-steak fund-raiser with my hubby last night, it was nice, but the music was too loud to talk, so political discussion was hard to hear…maybe that is a good thing.

Hope to be posting more, life’s been a bit little crazy lately…and dang, I have to get our income taxes done tomorrow, almost there!

This weekend we mark 4000 deaths of American Soldiers in Iraq, after marking 5 years in Irag since the invasion of that Country.

It hurts my heart to hear of the deaths, I’m a mother and feel the pain of the mothers who have lost their sons and daughters…based on that pain, it is so tempting for me to want to turn against the war, wonder how it all started…so much time has passed, that I tend to forget, as I’m sure many of us do.

My husband, the one who inspired this blog because he has more of a handle on political things than I do, has a way of bringing me back around by tracing how it all started, how it all fits together, and why we are there today. I hate the deaths, but by the time I’m done listening to him, somehow, as hard as it is, I .. can .. see .. that .. they.. have .. not .. been .. wasted .. deaths…or do I? It was really hard to type those last few words, so maybe I’m struggling, maybe I need to have him talk me through it again..and when I do, I’ll post it here for all of you.

Until then, my heart hurts for the loss, and at the same time is thankful for the freedom that we have brought to Iraq at a great price.