Honoring Veteran's Day

I have an issue.  
Maybe it's just me. 
I never understood the Veteran's Day sales.  I don't see how buying a car, or extra toilet paper honors the veterans who have done so much to make my life what it is, or even better, what it could be.  

Without the thousands upon thousands of men and women who stepped up to do their part in the protection of liberty and the American dream, I would not be able to blog freely, speak openly, think individually, as I do.  I am grateful.

I just don't see how reducing the price of last year's model car says thank you.  I don't see how buying furniture or knick knacks makes a thank you.  Why not just have an It's-not Christmas, so-we-thought-we-would-mark-down-these-big-ticket-items-just-for-fun sale?

I'm not asking for anything, not even a comment, I am just venting because I am old enough to remember a Veteran's Day Parade where all the branches of the service marched their color guards with the veteran's organizations like The VFW and the American Legion chapters.  We almost never got to sit down.  We stood for the flag as it passed, with  hands over hearts.  We felt so proud of them as they marched in uniform and in rememberance.  

Memorial Day Tribute

www.sodahead.com 

We kept our mouths shut when some old guy said it used to be called Armistice Day.  We pretended it was the first time we ever heard the fighting stopped in the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  We honored the older gentlemen by listening to them and thanking them for telling us what it meant.  

We gave every penny we could find for a poppy.  We still do, only now, we have dollars.  

I'm just saying, the car sales commercials are driving me nuts.  My eldest son tells me veterans get a discount this weekend at Lowe's Home Improvement stores.  That seems a more fitting thank you.  So, why not all stores giving a thank you or a tax free day for veterans?   Or, maybe just say thank you.