Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James of Dallas embraced Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr. during a Veterans Day commemoration.  Graunke lost a hand, a leg, and an eye when he defused a bomb in Iraq last year.

Thank you Houston James and Staff Sgt Mark Graunke Jr. for your service and sacrifices for our country!  We will never forget!

My life is impacted in so many, many ways by my time in service. An old guy, I served in combat in Vietnam, a United States soldier, attached to the 7th Regiment, First Marine Division. I guess I can sincerely claim the title "Dogfaced Jarhead ..!!" And I'm proud of it ..!!! Anytime I see a U.S. Military man or woman in uniform at the mall or a grocery store, I never fail to shake their hand. Looking at them, I find myself standing a little taller and my heart beats a little faster. If I could, I'd line every American military man and woman up, then go down the line one-by-one, saying just what this website says, "Thank You, Soldier ..!!"

That's why my heart is heavy following the election results ..! I had the dubious honor -- and so did hundreds of thousands of others -- of serving my country in uniform at a time when millions of Americans supported the blood and sweat of America's military, but America's leaders turned their backs on us. Never in the history of the world has there been a time when a nation's military won literally every battle .... but lost the war ..!! But that is Vietnam's legacy, because President Lyndon Johnson and his administration failed us ...!!!!  While we bled, they "politicked ...!!!" Had they taken the war out of the basement of the White House and given it to the generals in the Pentagon, America today would not wear the stain of defeat and the stink of having deserted our allies before the job was done ...!!!!!

I see the stage being set again ..! Set for early withdrawal; set for degregation of our goals and the dilution of our intent.; set to allow those who call us the "Great Satan" to once again kill our women and children on our own shores. I remember Vietnamese villages, whose names and precise locations are lost to age, wherein people were tearfully grateful, because American soldiers in 60's era battle dress, at the risk of their own lives, drove out the bad guys ..!!! But, before they were ready to do so,  we pematurely left those people to fend for themselves and the bad guys came back into the hamlets and villages...!! And the rest is a sad, blood-soaked story of villages burned, civilians killed and brave American soldiers forever tainted by the word "defeat," forged --- not by a foreign army, but by their own leaders..!! God forgive them ..!!!

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the stage is being set again for America's defeat, because we've elected a man who has no concept what you --- America's military heroes --- are doing; no concept of the lives you've saved in the sacrifice of your own; no concept of the greateness of your mission, nor the professional way you carry out that mission. And, God help us, no concept of what it takes to keep America strong and free.

But some of us do understand you ...! To many of us in America, your work has not --- nor will it ever --- go unnoticed or unheralded ..!! We are proud of you ..!! We sincerely stand in awe of what you have done ..!! Every Iraqi school opened, every Iraqi street made safe, every bad guy put away permanently in the mountains of Afghanistan makes us stand and cheer you on to victory ..!! Soldier, Airman, Sailor, Marine, Coast Guardsman --- America is great, because you are great ..!!! And you have our support and prayers ... every day ..!! Job well done ...! Job very well done ...!!!

Rest assured, American Hero, what's happening around you is real ...! The lives you've set free; the quality of life you've helped secure for millions; the safety you give to us in America by keeping the fight across the seas ... that's what's real ..!! What just happened in America is ... only an election!   

Seven years ago today, September 11th, 2001, we experienced the greatest act of terrorism ever perpetrated on American soil.  Most of us watched in horror as the events unfolded that fateful morning with a single question in our minds ... why?  The ideology of a fanatical religion and the cowardly acts of 19 hijackers marked a moment in our nation's mind which will live on forever.  We watched as the Twin Towers burned, then fell.  We watched as the Pentagon burned.  And we watched as Flight 93, likely heading for the White House, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.  A total of 2,819 innocent people lost their lives that day from 115 different nations.  And sadly, there were 3,051 children whose mother or father would never return home.

I remember exactly what I was doing the moment I heard the first news of the hijackings.  You probably remember, too.  It is estimated that 20 percent of Americans knew someone, who was hurt or killed in the attacks that day.  This tragedy affected our nation ... and the world.  May we never forget those who died that day!

May we never forget the families and friends who lost loved ones!  May we never forget the 343 firefighters and paramedics, the 23 NYPD officers, or the 37 Port Authority police officers who gave their lives trying to save others! May God bless all who were impacted by the wan toned death and destruction. And may God bless America ...!!