They too deserve our thanks...

We just celebrated Veterans Day this past Tuesday.  During my morning train commute that day, I just so happened to be reading a new book by the author and historian John Ferling called Shots Heard Round the World.  It's interesting so far, but I am only in the first 100 pages or so.

Ferling makes what I thought is an important point very early on in the book (specifically, page XXIII of the Preface).  He writes:

"Regardless of the army, soldiers led a harsh existence.  Theirs was a life of lonely tool, deprivation, discipline, draconian punishments, and episodic danger.  A great many did not live to see the end of this war."

He was of course writing about the American Revolution, and he was talking about both the British Army as well as the Continental Army.  There's no question that soldiers and sailors even today experience many of these same hardships, even during peacetime.

But Ferling's next sentence was the one that really resonated with me during my train ride in to work.  He writes:

"The war also touched every American on the home front and most in Great Britain.  For a great many who never soldiered, the war meant abundant sacrifices, including the loss of income or a job, doing without familiar commodities, and long, lonely stretches of anxious waiting for the return of a loved one on the front lines."

Ferling is absolutely correct.  Behind every soldier, sailor, airman, or marine there is a husband, wife, significant other, parent, child, or friend.  They have sacrificed for our country too.  They too deserve our gratitude and respect.  During our hospital's Veterans Day breakfast, I challenged all of our veterans to go home that night and thank that individual or group of individuals who had their back during their time in the military.  And I followed my own advice and went home and thanked my wife for all of her support.

November is actually Military Families Month.  It is very appropriate that we honor their contributions to our freedom too.  Thanks to all of you for supporting both your military family members and veterans!