A SALUTE TO OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM

           
       MY TV IS ON 24/7 AND USUALLY TUNED INTO FOX NEWS. YOU WOULD HAVE NEVER GUESSED THAT, RIGHT?!! SO NATURALLY THIS MORNING, THE FIRST THING I HEARD WHEN I WAS WAKING FROM MY 15 MINUTE CAT NAP @ 3:00 a.m. ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY, WAS THE MELODIOUS SOUND OF A BUGLE PLAYING TAPS. IT WAS COMING FROM ONE OF THE MANY SERVICES BEING HELD TO HONOR OUR FALLEN VETERANS. AND, AS IT ALWAYS DOES, ONCE AGAIN I FOUND MYSELF DRYING TEARS THAT HAD SPONTANEOUSLY SPRUNG TO MY EYES. I REMEMBER HEARING TAPS BEING PLAYED @ MY FATHER~IN~LAW'S FUNERAL LIVE, FOR THE FIRST TIME AND THE HONOR GUARD PRESENTING ARMS  AND FINISHING THE SERVICE WITH A TWENTY~ONE GUN SALUTE.  I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT DAY. PAPA, MY FATHER~IN~LAW, WAS A CAREER NAVY MAN, WHO GAVE THIS COUNTRY 27 1/2 YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE. HIS FAMILY, A WIFE AND 5 CHILDREN, DESERVE THANKS AS WELL FOR THEIR SERVICE AND THE SACRIFICE OF THE LOST TIME HE WAS AWAY DURING THOSE MANY YEARS.
         AS THE DAY PROGRESSED I OBSERVED EVERYTHING FROM SMALL, INTIMATE, FAMILY SERVICES TO THE ALWAYS MOVING CEREMONY @ ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY AND THE TOMB OF THE UN~KNOWN SOLDIER. I REMEMBER CHAPERONING A GROUP OF 32 SIXTH GRADERS TO WASHINGTON, D.C FROM MY DAUGHTER'S CLASS AND BEING ABLE TO ATTEND ONE OF THE DAILY CEREMONIES THERE. MY DAUGHTER, TAMI, HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF LAYING THE WREATH, DURING THE SERVICE, SOMETHING I'M SURE SHE WILL REMEMBER ALL HER LIFE. NOT ONLY DID I SHED MY USUAL TEARS OF PRIDE FOR OUR MILITARY THAT DAY, BUT I HAD GOOSE BUMPS TO GO ALONG WITH THEM! 
          IN THE AFTERNOON I RECEIVED A CALL FROM MY OLDEST BROTHER AND HIS WIFE. WE TALKED FOR OVER AN HOUR ABOUT MY PARENTS AND ABOUT DADDY'S SERVICE IN THE CANADIAN AIR FORCE DURING WWII, AND THEN IN THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS DURING THE KOREAN WAR. WHEN SIGNED UP FOR THE MARINE CORPS HE GAVE UP HIS DUAL CITIZENSHIP THAT HE HAD WITH CANADA AND FROM THAT TIME ON HE WAS THEN AND FOREVER AN AMERICAN!! DADDY LOVED HIS COUNTRY AND THE FLAG AND WAS PROUD TO SAY HE WAS A UNITED STATES MARINE. 
           IT WAS A FITTING WAY TO SPEND THIS DAY, HONORING ALL OF OUR MEN IN WOMEN UNIFORM WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES FOR OUR FREEDOM AND THIS COUNTRY.  THANK YOU JUST DOESN'T SEEM LIKE ENOUGH!