A Moment of Silence

There I was, standing in Priceline Pharmacy at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Suddenly, the muzak playing in the store was silent except for a lone bugle recording. Everyone, customers and staff, stood silently in a minute of silence to commemorate Remembrance Day. Florists sold poppies on the sidewalks for us to wear in our lapels . It was a wonderfully moving time. Australians still remember Gallipoli and teach about it every year in school. No country lost a higher ratio of soldiers in WWI (when you look at the total population) than Australia. Under John Howard, Aussie soldiers were our allies in Afghanistan & Iraq. Their devotion to Remembrance Day is something to be admired.

Surferdude and Ponygirl were remembering our last Veteran's Day in the USA. They made computer-generated thank-you cards and handed them out at Pat's Coffee Shop in Mooresville, NC. http://www.welcomehomeveteran.org/ This coffee shop is run by a veteran for veterans and has been for years. Ponygirl and Surferdude met some amazing people that day including an eighty-plus year old woman who served as a Marine MP during WWII. A tall young man walked in a few minutes later with two little children, ordered coffee, chocolate milk and donuts. He had just returned from Iraq. He was a Lt. Colonel who, among other things, provided reconnaisance directives for the Navy fliers in their bombing runs. Having an uncle who was a Navy aviator, Ponygirl and Surferdude had lots of questions. He was so moved by the kid's cards, that he promised that his children, when they were older, would continue the tradition when he went to Veteran celebrations. We checked out the thick Veteran's Book in Pat's, looked at the heaps of memorobilia, but mostly listened and enjoyed being in the company of so many self-sacrificing people. The most amazing moment was the conversation had with Richard, the current owner of Pat's Coffee Shop. He was a Vietnam Vet with an unbelievable story to tell. Richard called over a medium-build, mild looking man who was introduced to us as a Vietnam helicopter pilot. He put his arm around the man and said "This man was a complete stranger when he walked into Pat's. After a few months of reliving the old days, I realized that I had a connection with him. This man who flew into a terrible fire fight and recovered a company of soldiers killed in the battle. The location was so remote, that he knew the recovery teams would never find these men. One of the men he recovered was my brother. He brought my brother out of Vietnam. My mother has this man to thank everytime she goes up yonder to the VA cemetary to visit my brother's grave. Most people would have left him on that field...but not this man." Surferdude, Ponygirl and their mother were speechless. That is what Remembrance/Veteran's Day is about.

If you live around Mooresville, stop in for a cup of coffee and donut and thank those in there for their service. If you have older kids, bring them in and browse through the book. If you are in a pharmacy or grocery store on November 11th, stop and be still at 11:00AM. Buy poppies...anything! All of us who live in freedom anywhere in the world are so blessed that people like those at Gallipoli or in Pat's Coffee Shop chose to answer the call when the world needed them. It is the very least we can all do!!