Veteran's Day Post

Mackubin Thomas Owens, writing for National Review Online, says it better than I ever will:

In his birthday message to Marines this year, the Commandant, Gen. Mike Hagee, related a story about a Marine who had been wounded in Iraq earlier this year. A squad leader, he refused evacuation until he finally passed out from a loss of blood. When he woke up in an Army hospital in Germany, he talked the staff into releasing him. He borrowed some utilities from a Navy corpsman and then talked his way aboard an Air Force transport that was flying back to Iraq. But before boarding the plane, he called his wife to tell her that he was O.K. but that he wouldn't be home because the Marines in his squad needed him. As the old question goes, where do we find such men?

The truth is that we find them all the time. My father was a Marine who fought and was wounded in the Pacific during World War II. Marine Sgt. John Basilone, a contemporary of my dad, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on Guadalcanal. Though he was not obligated to do so, he insisted on returning to combat and was killed on the first day of the struggle for Iwo Jima. Where do we find such men?

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So pray for our servicemen in Fallujah today and for the souls of those who have given the last full measure. May they rest in peace. Happy birthday, Marines. Semper fi. And to all veterans, God bless you and thank you for your service. And may you live long, sweet lives.

And thank you, too, Dad.