Veteran’s Day, formerly known as Armistice Day. The end of the war to end all wars. Nice thought.
The sentiment for Veteran’s Day is well intentioned. Those who have served deserved to be acknowledged and saluted. I served, during a time of relative peace. No major conflicts were going on, but I did end up in the Indian Ocean to support the Israelis during the 1976 Entebbe incident. Yeh, I know, ancient history.
Even in times of peace, or outside the theater of conflict, there’s plenty of opportunities for something bad to happen while serving. An aircraft carrier, especially the flight deck, is not a safe place. The best thing that can happen to you there is nothing. Anything that does happen is probably not good. Carriers aren’t the only hazardous places. A friend’s wife was from a submariner family. She lost her father when the Thresher sank and her brother when the Scorpion sank. When she married Ray, in aviation instead of submarines, he was one of three crew members on an A-3D Skywarrier. Which is said to be an acronym for All Three Dead.
So every Veteran’s Day I drink a toast to those that served, and especially to those that died while serving. Here’s to those that gave their life while in the service of the country, regardless of whether we were in conflict or not. Here’s to Perry, John, Brian, and Fred, four friends that died while we were serving. Here’s to my father, a Navy veteran who served in the Korean theater of operations. Here’s to his other son that served in the Navy, during time of conflict. Here’s to his three grandchildren that served in the Navy, all during time of conflict. Thank you all.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 