Today I simply wanted to send out a “thank you” to some of the vets I know. Today is Veterans Day, which, unlike Memorial Day, honors the living rather than the dead.
- William Gallagher Barnson, retired Air Force Colonel. My adopted father served honorably in the active duty and reserve stateside throughout the Cold War, and had served in the navy during the Korean War.
- Jeffrey Kevin Barnson, my adopted brother, veteran of the First Gulf War flying a C-130 Hercules for the Air Force.
- Brian Michael Barnson, my older brother who honorably served in the U.S. navy.
- Ryan Rawlins, good friend and former Utah National Guardsman. Called him this morning to thank him.
- Richard Wendell Ellis, my father-in-law, who served in the U.S. army stateside and in Germany, retiring a few years ago to Idaho.
- Our very own Jon Brusco, friend for the last nineteen years, who served us in the U.S. army stateside and Panama, acquiring wounds that will never fully heal. Kind of like Frodo, if Frodo had a bum knee.
- Kevin Graham, currently serving in parts unknown. I haven’t seen him for thirteen years, but I’ve heard about him here and there, one day serving here, and another day serving there.
According to Woodrow Wilson’s Armistice Day proclamation, “the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nation.”
Who would you like to give props to this Veteran’s Day? Now’s the time, because tomorrow it won’t be Veteran’s Day anymore 🙂
Honoring Those
Thank you Matt, WOW.. 19 years is such a long time.
I still have many friends still serving and whom have served. It is kind of hard not too since i work in a Department of Defense building just down the street from DC.
CPT Chris Rush He is in the Army Reserves, serving ful time, He works hard here and at home.
SFC William Barrell I consider him to be my best friend. He just recently returned from Iraq. He and I were stationed in Panama together, and our oldest Daughters were born a week apart from each other while we were stationed there. He has been to alot of places that most of us would rather not go, and I feel proud knowing that he is doing his part in defending our country.
MSG Phillip Brown (ret.) My unlce on my mom’s side. He served for 23 years in the ARMY. He served in Vietnam. He is a great man and i thank him for his service.
Allan Brown Another Uncle on my Mom’s side. Served in the Air Force during Vietnam.
Jason Brown Son of Allan Brown, currently serving in the U.S. Navy.
SGT Matthew Donahue A Co-worker that served in the ARMY as a Special Forces / Ranger troop. He was deployed to parts unknown and conducted missions that were not always popular or even known about. He is a great father to a cute little girl.
I could go on for a while if i were to list off all the peole i would honor today.
THANK YOU TO ALL OF THOSE WHO DECIDED TO SACRAFICE AND SERVE IN THE DEFENSE OF THE UNITED STATES. I WILL GLADLY FIGHT BESIDE ANY ONE OF YOU ANYDAY.
GO ARMY !
My trouble…
That’s my problem; to list them all would take too long. If I’ve missed someone, it’s not because I wasn’t thinking of them, it’s just that I had to choose a limited number for my five-minute blog posting this morning 🙂
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Matthew P. Barnson
It’s also…
For those interested, here’s a list of other things that have happened on Nov 11. In particular, I’m happy to see that it’s the day that Albert Einstein patented the Einstein Refrigerator, too. You can still buy Electrolux’s “Dometic” refrigerators today; with no moving parts, apparently they are very reliable.
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Matthew P. Barnson
I before E, eh?
That method of refrigeration is also widely in use in RV’s and travel trailers everywhere. Our pop-up trailer has a “3-way” fridge that uses Einstein’s method and either, AC, DC, or a propane flame as the heat source. Brilliant.
Thank You
Among my friends and family who have served our country is a neighbor who is currently serving. His name is Bret Baron. His family is not allowed to know where he is or what he is doing. They don’t know when he will be back. I believe there is a lot the general public doesn’t know about this war and some people have to take care of the dirty work. Thanks Bret.
As Matt previously mentioned, my dad served for 15 years and would go back in a heart beat if they needed him. Due to his hard work for the army, I have seen much of Europe!
There are many more and thank you very much for keeping our nation free!–
Christy
Kevin, I’ll be your friend…
Sam has more information on Kevin than I do, but my understanding is that he’s now back in Washington DC, working as a Marine liaison at the Capitol (I think that’s right). He was injured rather severely in Afghanistan a year or two ago, and since his recovery he’s been working in stateside jobs. He’s recently married and Dani and I are hoping to get together with him soon.
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Ben Schuman
Mad, Mad Tenor
EDIT by matthew: Fixed tpyo, and added formatting since the old version of my weblogging software assumes if it sees a blockquote that the whole post is HTML. I must upgrade.