Thank a Veteran or a Soldier on Memorial Day

I have to admit that Memorial Day did not mean much to me until I started volunteering at the 100th Battalion. There are a lot of veterans in my family - I have an uncle who is a retired Air Force Colonel, two granduncles who were in the 100th, one granduncle who was in the 1399th, and my Dad was in the Army. If you know my cousin DD, she is a retired Army nurse also. But still, Memorial Day was just the holiday that came before my birthday.

Now though, the holiday has much more importance to me. The sacrifices that are spoken about in ceremonies at Punchbowl and Kaneohe touch my heart as I have "lived them" through the war stories I hear from the 100th vets in their 80s or the ones from the 100th/442nd soldiers who are of my generation. I see the pain on the faces of widows who lost their husbands at young and not so young ages and the spouses left behind who single-handedly run their households, all the while wondering how they will tell their children that Mommy or Daddy did not return alive from their tour of duty should they become a combat casualty. I listen to my friends speak about not knowing anything about their Dads who died in the war.

The word "hero" has lost its luster and power. If you ask someone, what is a Hero, I'm sure you'll get a lot of strange answers. I think of the blonde curly hair guy in that television show with the catchy theme song, what was it, Greatest American Hero or something like that. My kids think of the NBC show Heroes and the Japanese guy named Hiro. I'm sure the Mad Cow will sing you the beer commercial song about "Real American Heroes". Oscar will probably mention sub sandwiches. Indeed, most veterans hate being called a "hero" as they feel they were just doing their jobs.

Just saying thank you to the brave men and women in the military seems so inadequate but I believe that they appreciate even a few kind words of support. One soldier who came to visit the Clubhouse and had recently gotten back from Iraq said that it made it easier for him to deal with all of the sacrifices he was undergoing to know that the people back home remembered them and appreciated their efforts.

So, if you see someone in uniform today and everyday, please thank them for their hard work. If you are too shy, even a smile would be great.