Sorry folks, no simple Thank You on this one.Veterans Day brings a tremendous amount of meaning to those who served. It should to bring an equal amount of respect for those of us who did not. Some never touch the right person or knowledge to gain the understanding of Freedom. For each it comes from a different perspective. Friends who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq and on to those still serving in Afghanistan, can not raise my scale of freedom, appreciation of sacrifice or honor of Veterans Day. I have been fortunate to know many. My high school fishing partner was one of Scott Favors COs and retired after 28 years in the Marine Corp., high ranking and well respected. My neighbor (aged 92) rode Harleys as a courier in WWII, another next door neighbor only this year quit placing an American flag out daily as she has aged, shes 98 now. There have been many in between whom I have been fortunate to have known and know well. This goes right on through to those presently serving now and some we all know here. I was blessed as a young child to have one experience engrained in my memory and that experience changed my understanding of freedom and the need when I was about ten years old. As a lady in her 40s was handing a clerk at Ben Franklin $5 for her purchase, her coat rose above her wrist. Exposed was a first of very few number tattoos I personally have seen. She was embarrassed, unnecessarily so, as she knew this young child had seen the mark on her wrist. My wide eyes met her steel eyes and she knew I had knowledge of the mark. Im not sure where I learned of it, though this woman had the mark of an Auschwitz prisoner. She obviously had been one of those few who were liberated by our forces in Germany. Estimates are just over 400,000 prisoners of Auschwitz were tattooed, and I have seen three wrists with the mark. The others later in life and never aware though this one experience left me with a passion to learn more and through that an understanding why it should never happen again. That gives me my understanding of the need for conflict, the value of Veterans Day, the appreciation for those who served and the real value in my perspective of Freedom. For each of us the value is different and we all must be a part of expressing the value of Freedom. God Bless all of our Veterans. Rick Pierce
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