My war was Vietnam ..! My uncle fought and froze in Korea near the Chosin Reservoir. Before that it was my dad aboard a merchant ship, manning a heavy machinegun to ward off Japanese attack in the Pacific.  America's history is replete with war ..!! America and the world fought the "Hun" in the war that was supposed to end all wars, World War One ..!! We skirmished with the Spanish in Cuba before that and it was brother-against-brother in what most consider the most devastating of American's wars, the War Between The States.  Seems every generation has its conflict ..!

And are they truly necessary ..?? That's one we can argue until the cows come home ..! But are they real ..??? Absolutely ..!!! And in most instances, wherein maniacal depots with diabolical schemes challenge the world, no amount of well-intentioned diplomacy or sweet talk brings them to the peace table. Ultimately, it is the men and women, who wrap themselves in America's flag, shoulder a weapon and undergirded by a civilian populace with a backbone and a will to win, destroy evil until peace is won.

Such men and women are deployed today ..!! America's best and brightest ..! The finest forces America has ever called upon to defend us from the tyranny of evil.  We ought to be proud of these warriors  ..!!! And, although deeply saddened by the loss of even one life, we must, as a free people,  understand that without them ... and sometimes their sacrifices ... America will fall. America's freedom --- and truly the freedom of the western world --- is soaked with the blood of Americans ...! But that blood is the reason we still enjoy freedom and liberty ...!!!! 

Thousands of America's military protect us everyday ..!!! Whether in Iraq or Afghanistan or dozens of other places around the world, they are there for ... us. I'm tremendously proud of our military people ... and tremendously proud of websites like "Thank You Soldier."  The TYS effort to give all of us a place where we can say how proud we are of our men and women in uniform is more than commendable ...!! It's patriotic ...!! And there's no more beautiful word in the English language.

I came home from Vietnam in 1969 ..!! They loaded us all from the plane onto buses for the short trip to where we processed back into "our" country. The bus windows were covered with metal plating to keep the soldiers from being hit by the rocks thrown by war protestors. Dear God, forbid that in the future one man or one woman comes home to an ungrateful nation ...!! God forbid ...!!!