From the Saint Crispin’s Day speech of Shakespeare’s Henry V:

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

I’m a Veteran. And today means a lot to me. Thanks to everyone who has sent their well wishes and their thanks. And to you, my band of brothers, thank you.

Over at WindsOfChange.net, Armed Liberal (a former 1960s anti-war Lefty type) has a thoughtful piece on how his views on the US military have changed. The one sentence that most stood out to me:

1. First, that these men and women are just like me, except better.

You know what, Armed Liberal, you’re right. These men and women all represent the best in all of us.

Heinlein wrote: “The noblest fate that a man can endure is to place his own mortal body between his loved home and the war’s desolation.”

Soldiers I served with like 1SG Garnett Boudreau, a native New Yorker with a Creole surname — Top is exactly the kind of man you pray is ‘on that wall’. Big, strong, loud, and more proud of being a soldier than any person I have ever met. His booming voice and New York accent were identical to Andrew ‘Dice’ Clay, and probably the most physically imposing man I’ve ever met. Before taking over as 1SG of our medical company, he was a Platoon SGT and tank commander in an armored divison. I always had the feeling that he missed the combat units.

Or like SGT Bruce Quickle, one of Philadelphia’s own. Bruce was a natural leader who rose from the ranks of PV1 to Sgt quicker than I thought even possible. Sgt Quickle was the type of soldier others aspired to be. I remember once, when 1SG Boudreau was discussing Sgt Quickle with our Company Commander, Cpt Christopher Davis: “If I had 10 Quickle’s in my unit, I wouldn’t need anybody else.” And he was right.

Or my mom’s brother Cpt Herbert Williamson, who, as a prisoner of war, didn’t get home from Vietnam until 1972. There’s a line in a Trish Murphy song that goes, “Johnny dropped bombs on Vietnam, he couldn’t really look back, he never really came back.” Those lines remind me so much of how I remember my uncle. I remember the first time I ever met him: he came driving up in his old Army Jeep Willie to take me and my brothers to a movie. He looked every bit the soldier. He was my first hero. My uncle Herb died in 1977 from cancer as a result of the chemical agents that he was exposed to in Vietnam.

Or men like my brother, SSG Marty — On Nov. 8th, 1990 my brother and I had planned to go surfing. When we awoke to heavy rains, Marty nonchalantly announced that he was going to go see an Army recruiter. I thought I better go with him to make sure he didn’t get talked into something. I signed up before he did that day. Little did we know that on that same day, the United States announced its decision to deploy 200,000 more troops to the Persian Gulf to build up capability for an offensive against Iraq.

Nearly 14 years later, I’m a civilian again. But Marty has grown from a 20 year old PV1 into a Staff Sergeant with command of his own Recruiting Station in Texas City, TX. Along the way he has become the Army’s poster boy for “Be All you Can Be”. He’s lived in Korea, fought in Somalia, and pulled guard duty in Cuba. In 1990 my brother was a slacker, surfer, skate punk kid. Today, he is a leader and shaper of men, a respected and well-known person in his community, and a devoted father and husband. There is not another man I respect or admire more.

Or women like PFC Ourania Garnakelis, who became my closest friend in F. Company, 701st Main Support Battalion, Ft. Riley, KS. — Nia was…well, a princess. She complained about every facet of military life. Especially when we went to the field. She hated to sweat. She hated ‘camping’ (which is what she called it whenever we weren’t sleeping in our barracks). Imagine a good traditional Greek daughter, the princess of her family…that was Nia. But the entire time she was complaining, she was packing her own weight. She never fell behind and she never asked for a respite, no matter how difficult the task. Oh, she would complain about getting her nails dirty while cleaning her M16 after a day at the range, but when she handed in her rifle it always passed inspection on the first go. There’s a term we used: ’soldiering on’. And that’s what Nia did day-in and day-out.

These people are just like you and me. But because of the way they served, better than nearly all of us.

President Bush has some thoughtful words on Veteran’s Day posted at the White House Web site.

Americans live in freedom because of our veterans’ courage, dedication to duty, and love of country. On Veterans Day, we honor these brave men and women who have served in our Armed Forces and defended our Nation.

To all my brothers and sisters-in arms: I stand at attention and salute all of you. Thank you for your honorable and selfless service to our great Nation.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Thursday, November 11th, 2004 | Trackback |