Honoring our Veterans ...

Please join me in honoring and remembering all the men and women who have served our country. Please think about the ones who lost their lives and the families who are without a loved one.
Remember, without the service and dedication of our armed forces our lives could be very different.
From the bottom of my heart I want to thank all those who have served and their families for their sacrifices.

Many men and women in my family have served our country...my husband served for twenty years and I would like to share something he wrote, I hope it speaks to you as it does to me:

At 0300, I awoke
Streaming tears in my dreams;
As an inner voice spoke.

Something is wrong in the universe tonight.
Something disturbing, it’s just not right

We sailed for a patriotic cause
With grit, reason, and dogged determination
We gave an evil empire pause

Down to the sea,
And under we went.
Where death awaited
At the slightest slip.

Dependent on our brothers in arms
To keep us from the evil empires’ harms

Would it be crush depth exceeded and a quick implosion?
Perhaps a depth charge or torpedo explosion?
How you prayed that it would not be
Waiting for the last - Cold, dark and wet
Sitting on the bottom of an unforgiving sea

Young, wild, feeling SO free
Serving an ideal we thought would always be
Sacrifice, strife and mental anguish were part of our life

Wives and parents waited ashore
Kept in the dark about where, how and what we were for
See, even families paid an enormous fee
They too understood, freedom isn’t free
Some couldn’t deal, and lives were lost

Under extreme stress, some strong men stumbled
An added burden
As families crumbled

Somewhere tonight a lone shipmate lies,
Trussed safe in his bunk.
Weary and far from the fight.
The warmth of life fading from his eyes.

He’s fighting to the last
Avoiding deaths’ icy grip

A divine order is given
“Heave out, Trice up”
“Cast off all lines”
“Set the maneuvering watch”
One last time
An order he will follow

The final step in HIS fight for freedom,
Will be the one to the eternal kingdom

He watched in awe, as his country changed.
Lack of morals, leadership, discipline, and direction.
Compared to before, it has become deranged.
What he fought for may appear to have passed,
But he was faithful, true to the last

The future awaits,
Other men of character will seek their fates.
Patriots like us, will continue the fight
Not just for themselves, but, for the shipmate called home this night

It always ends as we meet our fate.
We all must serve something
And enjoy the wait

Rest in peace
Shipmate of mine
Patrol in God’s arms
Till the ends of time.

©Dean E. Thornton, CTMC SS RET