The man, plain and simple:

It’s Veteran’s Day, and Google has finally paid attention:

Ok, now that I vented about that I need to point you in the direction of this simply amazing article:

We were disappointed by the reception we received. There were no spontaneous protests, no name calling, no confrontations with patchouli oil-wearing hippie chicks. Instead, we received a cool, almost apathetic reception. Stares and smirks and polite bemusement, but no one went out of their way to be rude or unkind. They simply ignored us, assuming (correctly) that we would soon leave, never to return.

Disappointed, we walked to the student union, ordered lunch, and sat at a corner table by ourselves. Most of the students did their best to avoid making eye contact but one young girl, dressed in Birkenstocks and sporting white-girl dreadlocks, walked up and smiled. “Are you Canadian Mounties?” she asked.

My friend snorted, thinking that she was making fun of our uniforms. But I could tell from from her expression that her question was sincere. “Um, no,“ I said, “We’re U.S. Marines.“

“Oh,” she said, looking puzzled. “So what do Marines do?”

Read the whole thing. 

This Dean Barnett piece, entitled ”The 9/11 Generation,” is well worth the time as well:

The platoon he led was composed of men who had already been in Baghdad for five months. Cotton knew that a new platoon leader normally undergoes a period of testing from his men. Because his platoon was patrolling “outside the wire” every day, there was no time for Cotton and his men to have such a spell. He credits what turned out to be a smooth transition to his platoon’s noncommissioned officers, saying, “The troops really belong to the NCOs.” After six months, Cotton and his platoon redeployed stateside.

While in Iraq, Cotton’s platoon was awarded two Purple Hearts, but suffered no killed in action. His larger unit, however, did suffer a KIA. When I asked Cotton for his feelings about that soldier’s death, the pain in his voice was evident. After searching for words, he described it as “sad, frustrating, angry--very hard, very hard on the entire company.”

He then added some thoughts. “As painful as it was, the death didn’t hurt morale,” he said. “That’s something that would have surprised me before I joined the Army. Everyone in the Infantry has volunteered twice--once for the Army, once for the Infantry. These are all grown men who all made the decision to face the enemy on his turf. The least you can do is respect them and what they’re doing.”

Now serving in the Army in Virginia, still enjoying his six-figure pay cut, Tom Cotton says he is “infinitely happy” that he joined the Army and fought in Iraq. “If I hadn’t done it,” he says, “I would have regretted it the rest of my life.”

Regardless of their backgrounds, the soldiers I spoke with had a similar matter-of-fact style. Not only did all of them bristle at the notion of being labeled victims, they bristled at the idea of being labeled heroes. To a man, they were doing what they saw as their duty. Their self-assessments lacked the sense of superiority that politicians of a certain age who once served in the military often display. The soldiers I spoke with also refused to make disparaging comparisons between themselves and their generational cohorts who have taken a different path.

But that doesn’t mean the soldiers were unaware of the importance of their undertaking. About a month ago, I attended the commissioning of a lieutenant in the Marine Corps. The day before his commissioning, he had graduated from Harvard. He didn’t come from a military family, and it wasn’t financial hardship that drove him into the Armed Forces. Don’t tell John Kerry, but he studied hard in college. After his commissioning, this freshly minted United States Marine returned to his Harvard dorm room to clean it out.

As he entered the dorm in his full dress uniform, some of his classmates gave him a spontaneous round of applause. A campus police officer took him aside to shake his hand. His father observed, “It was like something out of a movie.”

Well worth the read. 

I also wanted to point out two great organizations, both of which we donate to whenever we get the chance.  The Wounded Warrior Project, and Operation Gratitude.  More info on the organizations and how to donate can be found on their websites. 

A preemptive thank you for considering donating to either organization, and a big thank you to all those veterans that have served this country, are serving, and will serve in the future.  It’s you who make this grand experiment possible.  It’s you who allow us to enjoy our freedom and liberty to the fullest.  Thank you.