Wigwam Jones

After all that build-up, Veterans Day is finally here. Funny time of year, I find myself all awash in emotions and remembrances and I even have strong memories of certain smells, like riding my motorcycle along the Pacific Coast Highway in the evenings in Southern California, down around Solana Beach, and the way the ocean used to smell and there was always some smell of what seemed like black licorice in the air. Those were memories of my time at Camp Pendleton as part of the 1st Marine Division. From the beginning of November until Veterans Day, I get these things.

Had a phone call last night from an old friend and fellow Jarhead, a man whom I served with back in the day. We both got out after our time was up, but he went back into the Army, and he sent me photos of himself and his unit in Iraq last year. He brought them home safely - two shot, one blown up, but nobody dead, and he is set to retire in the spring of 2009. He was just promoted to Command Sergeant Major - that's as high as it goes in the Army enlisted ranks. Wow. We used to get drunk and act like morons together. Now he has raised a family and his kids are on their own, served a tour in combat, and made it to the top of the Army's enlisted ranks. What a guy.

Anyway, this is my last shout-out this year to my fellow veterans. I drove up to the Great Lakes National Cemetery, just outside of Holly, Michigan, and attended their 4th Annual Veterans Day Program.

The cemetery is new - burials began in October of 2005. This in itself is sad - I could see the headstones from miles away as I parked and walked to the location of the ceremony. Miles, my friends. There are already over 3,700 headstones here.

http://www.cem.va.gov/CEMs/nchp/greatlakes.asp

But Veterans Day is not just for the honored dead. It is for the living, including those broken in mind, body, or spirit. On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, the guns of WWI fell silent, and we thought we were going to study war no more.

The last of the WWI veterans are nearly gone now, and the WWII and Korean War vets are not that far behind them. But we seem to be making more, so I guess we won't run out of veterans any time soon.

Here's my photo set on Flickr. No more of these until Memorial Day, but keep a kind thought for those who serve our nation, won't you?

Peace,

Wiggy