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Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Flying in honor of all veterans, a re-post

Michael Browning
Today is Veterans Day. Veterans Day was called "Armistice Day" on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. In 1926 Congress passed a resolution to annually celebrate this day. November 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars.

Today is the only day that I put aside my adversarial joking relationships with the Marines, Air Force, and Navy. Today, I will not call one of my favorite people a Jarhead. I will call him that at least twice tomorrow! Today is the day that I salute all members of the Armed Forces past and present including my dad (he retired as an Infantry Sergeant Major after 30 years) and myself (I was an Army officer for 11 years). There are 23.6 million veterans, 1.8 million of them are women. I could not find any specific data on African American women veterans, but there are 2.4 million African American veterans. Regardless of race, gender, or branch of service: THANK A VETERAN TODAY!

Unfortunately it is not a Hallmark holiday, but all veterans deserve our respect and most of all our gratitude. Shaking a hand, picking up the phone, sending an email, or giving flowers is the least we can do. It is also the very least we SHOULD do.