I agree Smitty & Flash, I do say thanks to all of the soldiers, sailors & airmen I get the chance to. The young ones don't seem to realize it yet, but I feel what they are doing by enlisting in these times really shows a lot of what they are really made of. The older ones seem to take it in stride, some act some what surprised. I love spending time talking to the WWII vets, some of them often say "I didn't really see any action or do anything" & I tell them that their generation made the country what it is today. We were docked by an old vet in the FL Keys a few years ago & I spent many afternoons working & talking with this guy. I told him that I would love to see the country step up and support our troops like they did back then. I often tell people you don't have to agree with war, but remember that these men & women are fighting so that you can disagree. You owe them your support.
I have lost quite a few friends to the current war, and I definitely agree with Smitty on the fact that we could be anywhere, I have another buddy over there & one day after a ride, he explained a lot to me that I didn't hear anything about on the news channels. I told him that they should give the Army some air time, then people will just say "Oh, wow, that makes a lot of sense".
Anyway, I was born in 1969 and when I got out of high school, I was fortunate enough to have scholarships and such, and when I found out that I couldn't fly because of my eyesight not being 20/20, I was no longer interested. My mistake, because I had not had the opportunity to meet all the great vets at that time. I was too young to know what was happening with the vets returning from Viet Nam, and then there was really no real threats to our country and such, so I just never gave the military life much thought after that. I do wish I would have joined for the experiences I could have got to enjoy. I think I would have really enjoyed it. I have gotten to see & do many wonderful things on my own, but a few years with the military would have just been some more experiences for me.
Thanks again to all!