Happy Veterans Day; Happy Veteran

I became a veteran by invitation, which is probably a good thing because it is unlikely that I would have become one by choice.  I had a couple of years of college under my belt, attending school part time and working part time, and hoping that the war in Viet Nam would cool down and go away.  It didn't, and I was half a unit shy of qualifying for a student deferment when President Johnson (that's Lyndon, not Andrew) sent me the invitation.  It was, in my view, terrible timing, a fact that I tried in vain to explain to the Almighty, but he was not to be persuaded.  (Fifty years later it is still true that most of my arguments with God have been about timing.  And He is still not persuaded.)

Most of my active duty time was spent as a medic at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.  Though alerted for Asia, we never went.  We weren't in the heat of battle, but we certainly saw the results.  Fort Sam was home to the army's burn center, and the worst of the burn casualties who survived Viet Nam were evacuated and treated there.  Getting acquainted with some of those guys was an honor.  Memories of those times, both good and bad, live on.  The time I spent in the army helped to shape me.  (I'm not talking physically; there are some things you shouldn't blame on the army.)  I'm pretty sure that my military service was better for me than it was for the nation.

Now I have become one of those people whom others thank on Veterans Day, and there is always a little bit of me that wonders why.  It happened again last Sunday at church in Canada when the pastor invited veterans to stand.  I freely confess to serving reluctantly, with all the enthusiasm of the man who, about to be tarred and feathered, said that if it were not for the honor of the occasion, he'd just as soon pass.  For this veteran, I think the thanks need to be expressed in the opposite direction.  What I regarded at the time as an interruption in my life became a tool in the hand of God to bless me.  So this Veterans Day, thank you, America, for the privilege of serving.