Freedom Is Never Free -- Veterans Day 2012

The Korean War Memorial in Washington D.C. is my personal favorite on the National Mall.

Today is Veteran's Day.  I'm ashamed to admit that I almost forgot.  Veteran's Day was originally called Armistice Day, which commemorated the cease fire that took place on 11-11-1919 at 11:00 a.m.

We are not the only country which honors those who have served--both living and dead.  In England, they commemorate the holiday having two minutes of silence at 11 a.m.  The first is to honor the soldiers who have fallen.  The second is to honor those who were left behind, including wives and families.

I never had to serve in the military.  But I have a father who did and both of my grandfathers served in World War II.  My Grandpa Hancock was a young sailor onboard an aircraft carrier in the Battle of Midway.  His ship was sunk by a kamikaze plane and he went overboard along with many of his friends and fellow crewmates.  While he waited to be rescued, he left the safety of his raft to rescue his fellow shipmates.  (See my blog post about that here.)

Grandpa Hancock never talked about that experience--at least with me.  To me that makes him even more of a hero.  He served and did his duty with a quiet duty, but didn't seek recognition or fame for his actions.  He was not alone among his fellow servicemen who served with the same selfless attitude.  There is a reason our grandparents are called "The Greatest Generation."

Green Jello

My other grandpa served in the Antarctic and Arctic regions before and during World War II.  His service came at a high personal cost.  It was cold and lonely.  They must have spent one winter eating nothing but green jello for dessert every meal because he had an otherwise inexplicable hatred for the stuff!  (And that's saying something about a man who was constantly trying to get me to eat Limburger cheese and telling me not to be "provincial" about what I eat.  There were other costs too.  Things he never told us about, but that I have come to understand as I've grown older.

His service, however, blessed both him and his posterity.  The things he brought back from his service were (and remain) things of wonder to me as a child: polar bear skin rugs; a stuffed penguin; a narwhal tusk; fur lined jackets (sorry PETA!); musk oxen horns.  I still love going to visit his house to this day and I am always excited to see what forgotten treasure I might find tucked into the corner of a long-forgotten closet.

So today I will remember and be thankful for my grandparents, my dad, and for the rest of our military (past and present) for their service and their sacrifice.

Happy Veterans Day!