Walking With The Veterans

When my husband rolled over this morning, the first thing he said was, " I wish our flag was up."  Over and over again, I've watched him as he anchored our flag in its bracket into the brick front of our home.  And over and over again, the wind inevitably tears it down.  As a matter of fact, just now, when I reminded him of what he had said this morning, he jumped up from watching "Tora, Tora, Tora" with the intent of trying once more to get that flag flying.  Never stand in the way of a man with a mission, especially a military man.
There he is, back in out of the cold.  I guess its flying outside the house again.  All is well, at least until that wind picks up.  One thing is for sure, he'll keep our flag flying if he has to stand out there and hold it.  I suggested we just give up and buy a ground flag pole.  They aren't cheap, but I think it would be worth it, don't you?
This morning, we let the kids sleep in.  After our coffee together, we went walking.  He mentioned walking outside but, it was too chilly for this old vet's arthritis, so we headed over to the mall to walk.  My husband had never walked the mall with me.  He grumbled a bit, but I think he enjoyed it.  Three laps (six miles) later, we must have said howdy to dozens of veterans.  How did I know they were veterans?  Well, it may have been what they were wearing, baseball caps or shirts with distinctive military units, ranks, or battles each had participated in.  And some of the guys still held on to their routine of getting those hard to miss military haircuts.  But, you know what, I think this old Colonel and his old Major Sweetie just knew...the way one recognizes an old friend they haven't seen since high school.  There's a look that you just know, a solemn expression of pride in service.  You see it in the way a veteran carries himself or herself.  When we had completed our walk, I turned around and watched them sitting there at the mall's food court...old veterans remembering friends they had lost long ago and over the years since, reminiscing about their glory days.  I was with this unit...I was with that.  I wondered if we should go back, sit down, and share our experiences as well.  Was our time Haiti, Kuwait, Iraq and Somalia something they would even want to hear about?  My husband looks like a soldier, but they look at me and they see someone too tiny, too fragile, to truly know about war.   Maybe, when we are older, we will join the old veterans who sit and chat following their walk of the mall.  For now, we consider it an honor just to walk among them.
Later in the day, we found ourselves back at the mall.  Hey, it is Veterans Day.  Got to get those bargains when you can, right?  So, on eleven, eleven, eleven, I walked a total of eight miles.  I'd thought about attempting eleven miles on eleven eleven eleven, but I just don't see it happening.  No worries.  I'm happy with eight.  That officially brings me up to 1250 and you know I like round numbers.  : )

Long ago at Fort Bragg

Well, I'd better go.  I've just been informed that "We Were Soldiers" is on.  I said, "Today isn't supposed to be about sitting around watching TV."  He replied, "We honor in our own way."  "That we do, my love...that we do."