Here is my post on Facebook this morning,

In typical military fashion, most of the country has off in celebration of Veterans day…while I, as a veteran, head off to work to do what needs to be done.

Go buy a Vet a cup of coffee in thanks for defending your freedom to openly like him or not.

And enjoy your freedoms while you still have them…and if you continue to lose them, its because of your voting, NOT due to the US soldier not fighting for them.

/rantoff

It doesn’t say enough about the state of affairs in this country, but it does give some idea on how I feel. I believe our personal freedoms are being eroded even as I write this, much the same way that you eat an elephant, one bite at a time.

Gone are the days of each family taking responsibility for themselves. Now many prefer to stand in line to take what the government will give them, even if it means to lie about their personal circumstances. I know several people that play hard, but cry “disabled” so that they will continue to get a Social Security check…and they no longer have to work.

And our system continues to allow this.

I believe that my Brothers (and Sisters) in Arms will continue to fight for the freedoms they believe in, and that this country is Greater than any other…

…although that strength in that belief is becoming harder to maintain.

As various government agencies work to establish plans to pacify us “in troubled times”, others work towards creating those troubled times…and at some point, the camel that is our belief system has to say, “Enough”. I pray that there are still enough freedom-loving Americans around to maintain our heritage of taking care of one’s self, rather than stepping into line, doing what we are told, and taking what is given to us.

As to Veteran’s Day, I worked a full day, and only brought home $20, and an unfinished carved wooden bowl (a token of appreciation from a customer that I helped with a minor issue). And I am not complaining, rather, I say this with pride. I drove almost 90 miles today (roughly $18 in gas), helped out 4 different households in three counties, and covered my gas expenses, plus a few dollars. But I earned every cent of it. Rather that than standing in line as a docile sheep to take a handout with little or no effort.

This is the spirit that will pull this country out of the quagmire of “who will take care of me”. I just hope that more folks start to feel the same way. For those that read this, I count most of you in the same state of mind as myself, why else would you read my ramblings?

But for those that never see my writing, those are the ones we should worry about, as many of them are simply uneducated, blinded, and/or lazy. By uneducated, I mean that they do not understand that SOMEONE must pay for their lack of effort, by blind, I mean they do not see the folly of pushing this country further into debt, and by lazy, well, that speaks for itself.

I consider myself lucky that I believed joining the military was the only option I had to feed myself. Literally. My driving motivation to join the US Air Force was the offer of three meals a day.

When I graduated high school, I had no luck finding work due to two factors: I was fresh out of high school with no marketable skills, and living in a geographical area that offered very little work. My parents were getting a divorce at the time, with my mother and brothers deciding to move to Florida (THAT ended up biting me in the ass eventually!), and my father moving away as well. I stayed for the main reason all men make stupid mistakes, a girl.

I ended up living in my car for a time, and was lucky to get a single decent meal each day. At one point I took to poaching deer simply to have something to eat. Short of substance abuse, I was about as low as a person could get in life.

The day I happened into a USAF recruiters office, I was tagging along with a friend, with no intention in the world to even speak with the recruiter. I was along for the ride with my best friend (who had already signed up), simply because my friend knew my plight, and offered to buy me lunch if I tagged along.

While waiting at the far end of the recruiter’s office away from everyone, I spent my idle time looking forward to a hot meal, and watching the propaganda video that you see in every recruiter’s office. “We train you. We offer career potential. We educate you. We house you, feed you, and clothe you. You become part of…”

Feed me? I stepped over the the recruiter, and asked about the feeding part.

“Three squares a day, guaranteed. But more importantly, we offer training and a..”

I cut him off. “When can I get signed up?”

True story. I joined the military to EAT. And ended up gaining TWENTY pounds in Basic Training, an unheard of feat. The folks weighing me as I out-processed Basic actually made me get on and off the scale twice to verify.

That is why I joined…

I didn’t want to be a hero. And I don’t think that I am. I simply wanted to stop being hungry. And I didn’t mind working for it. What I learned as I spent time in the service, was that what we did as military members was to secure the freedoms that everyone takes for granted. And to be honest, it wasn’t until long after I had separated that I realized this.

Looking back, I’m proud of every moment I spent in that uniform, no matter what I was doing. I never had to make any decisions, I merely followed orders. Decisions were “above my pay grade”, thankfully. I just followed orders.

So did most of the folks that I look at as heroes. They were simply doing what they were told. Some orders are beyond the comprehension of the civilian world (sometimes the soldier too!), and I won’t get into “right or wrong”. Orders are orders, just do what you are told, its not your job to think, its your job to DO.

And we did. And everyone in this country were made safe by those that followed orders, even if it was simply “make coffee”. We were part of a unified team, and not following orders could cause that team to fail.

I know some hero’s, though they probably wouldn’t say that they are. (Argue the point Hershel, I’ll stick to my guns on this one.) They did what they were told to do in times and places that could (and did) make grown quake in fear.

And those men I so admire looked that fear in the eye, and did what they had to do to follow orders. And make us safe.

Now here  is the catch. I criticized sheep standing in line and following orders, then praised our military for “just following orders”. The difference? The sheep follow orders for their own benefit, while the soldier follows orders for the benefit of everyone but themselves. Sheep are selfish, while soldiers are selfless. And to make matters worse, the sheep never understand this.

So I want to thank every Brother and Sister that served before me. Those that served during a war, a “conflict”, or through peace time, every one of you did your part to keep us safe. Thank you.

For those that served with me, those have a special place for me, as we worked hard to defend our country during the end of the Cold War. That enemy is no more, as we were standing side by side as the Iron Curtain fell. To my generation of Brothers and Sisters, I salute you, as we settle into our civilian lives. Many thanks to you all.

And for those after me, I pray that you carry the same torch that your predecessors did, with the fervor and intensity to keep yourselves, and our country, strong. For those on duty now, I pray for your safety, and above all, I thank you. May you see uneventful careers.

I was never as patriotic until after I have separated, having realized that our country is kept safe by boys and girls becoming men and women. I am older than 99% of our armed forces, and at 44 years old, I still consider myself rather young.

But patriotic, I am, and while I’m not as young as when I served, like many of my Veteran counterparts, I am still willing to do whatever is needed to keep us safe.

I do not say this lightly when I sign off with,

Peace,
db