Today is Veterans Day. We once called it Armistice Day because that's what the day on which World War I ended was called, back before we had to put a Roman numeral after World War (we are the smartest species on the planet, the crown of creation, but we still had to have two worldwide conflagrations to realize how horrible they were).
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| At exactly 11:11 every Veterans Day (November 11) the sun aligns perfectly with the Anthem Veterans Memorial in Arizona shining through the ellipses of the five marble pillars representing each branch of the armed forces, illuminating the Great Seal of the United States. |
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| Chelsea Parade, Norwich, Connecticut |
We had people serving in the military before we even had a country. After all, this is where the American Revolution started with farmers and shopkeepers grabbing muskets and forcing the world's most powerful nation at that time, the British Crown, after a profuse flow of blood, to concede to the inevitable and allow all those up and down the Eastern Seaboard to become the United States of America (not that we've always been or even are to this day).
And while it's hard sometimes to see the line from the low-rent districts everywhere to the streets of the District of Columbia, it's all a part of what every veteran made possible by her and his service. The best way to say 'thank you' is to safeguard and use wisely the freedoms that service and sacrifice made possible and make them a part of your legacy for those who will follow you.
-bill kenny
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