22 Veterans die by their own hand everyday. 1 in 5 suicides nationally is a Veteran, even though we only make up about 10% of the population. Yeah, 1 in 5. Let that sink in.... It may seem like a good deal to be a Veteran, but remember we gave our best years to service. Many of us had to start over in our late thirties, early forties.. Do you think that is easy? Combine that with injuries and PTSD and for some it is too much. That was written by Ray Cabral. He is one of a legion of people whom I know solely through online interactions. Thats a classification of acquaintances that is both rather new and very common. And of that group, Ray is probably my oldest and closest friend. Back before we knew it was social media, he was blogging as the Cranky Yankee and I was the Balloon Pirate. Hey, the internet was new back then. We did weird things. How many of you still have email accounts with names like weeblewobbler? I digress Rays a family man, first and foremost. Hes also two things that are rarely joined together in public discourse: A liberal and a patriot. And Ray wears both badges proudly. Rays used to wearing badges. Ill bet he has a bunch of them from his time in the Air Force, where he did an awesome job. And by that I mean not only did he do his job to the best of his abilities, but when people find out exactly what he did, their first response is usually Awesome! Well, it was mine anyway. That part of Rays life was in his past when we first met in the comments section of some post. I not only liked what he wrote, but also the way he wrote it. And I still do. You can see why, from that post above. So, on this Memorial Day, for Ray, for Brenda, for Brad, for Gordon, Kevin, and for every other Vet you know and dont know, remember that supporting the troops means more than wearing ribbons and sharing posts. Their fate, their health, their lives are too important to be used as political pawns in Washingtonian machinations. Not every casualty of war dies on a battlefield. Lets to what we can to limit the damage. Happy Memorial Day, everyone.
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 12:05:40 +0000
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