Tip of the cap to The Loon, who sent this to me and I just saw it last night (mea culpa, mea culpa):

Before You Go Home

Quite the reminder of what we are losing, everyday.

In case I haven’t said this lately, let me say it now – go out and thank as many veterans as you can find. Doesn’t matter how old they are or how young they are. Tell them you appreciate their service to this country. Doesn’t matter if they claim they were forced into it, or if they served willingly and would do it again. Thank them for their service. I thank every veteran I run across. I usually get tears in return, if the veteran is older than I am. I’ll get a “It was my pleasure, sir!” out of the younger ones. If the veteran is a little stooped, and his baseball cap with the 1st MarDiv patch on it has World War Two battlegrounds listed next to it, I’ll learn some military history and some personal service history. If the names on the cap are oriental and difficult to pronounce, I’ll get clarification of the names, and why they are on his cap. Sometimes, from a Viet Nam vet, I’ll get five minutes of silence while his stare goes out to a thousand yards and he runs down his mental list of buddies he can’t see anywhere but in his mind… that’s when I sit quietly, and watch his face, and start to tear up for him, and for my cousin, who died with the epithet of “babykiller” still ringing in his ears, thirty years after he stepped off the freedom bird. Thank them all, because they did something not everyone is willing to do – put their beliefs and their lives fully behind the greatest nation in the world.

Thank you, Gawfer.
Thank you, Doug.
Thank you, Fred.
Thank you, Kris.
Thank you, Old Soldier.
Thank you, Greybeard.
Thank you, Gunny.
Thank you, GuyK.
Thank you, Akinoluna.
Thank you, dtodeen.
Thank you, Hans and Lewis.
Thank you, Fix4RSO.
Thank you, Mac.
Thank you, Stu.
Thank you, Eric.

Added 5-19-08
Thank you, Richard.
Thank you, Rogue.

And thank you to the ones I missed, whether because I couldn’t remember or since I was writing this so late at night I shouldn’t even be up…

To all the veterans out there: Thank You.