NEWS: Veterans Day Tribute

Let us not forget what today is, because today is a day to honor the bravest Americans, the proudest Americans and the strongest Americans. An American soldier is like no other soldier. An American army is like no other army.

I have been around past and current U.S. soldiers, and I never know what to do. Never know what to say.

As a kid growing up, I didn't understand war or what it meant to be a soldier. I didn't know why my uncle was such a proud man when he tied up his boots and put on his camo uniform. I didn't know why my neighbors were concerned about their son joining the marines.

Now I understand.

To become a soldier is to become something great. When you become a soldier you sacrifice normal ways of life, you sacrifice the relationships of loved ones, you sacrifice your body, you sacrifice your mind and sometimes you sacrifice your life. Every person that becomes a soldier knows this, yet they have the strength and pride to defend this great country.

I will never know what it is like to be on the battlefield, and to be honest I don't want to. Friends die. Fear never sleeps. I will be the first to admit that I don't think I have what it takes to be a soldier.

So when a friend who is in the marines comes home, or when you see a soldier in uniform, what do you say? How can you express your thanks to a person that has more courage than you, a person that is willing to defend you and your rights, a person that is sacrificing so much while you sit at your comfortable home?

To this day, I still don't know what to say to an American soldier. The best that I've come up with is, "Thanks."