It’s Veteran’s Day, 2020, and I just want to say a heartfelt “Thank you!” to all who have served in America’s Military, but most especially to:

• My Cousin, who served in the Army and was killed during in the Vietnam War at Khe Sanh Combat Base during the Communist Tet Offensive. (“Please don’t tell [my wife] where I am if she doesn’t know yet. She will only worry.”)

• My Uncle, who served on the USS Lexington (CV-2) when it was sunk by the Japanese Navy during the Battle of the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942. (After returning from the war he only talked about that day once for about five minutes, as we all sat around listening to horrific details of the sinking.)

• Another Uncle, who served in the Army in the Signal Corps, and trained to fight in high-altitude, cold-weather conditions in Northern Italy before being rushed over to the Pacific theater, where he served on Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s communications staff during the New Guinea and Philippines Campaigns. (“[Gen. MacArthur] was a mean SOB bast@rd, but he was precisely the mean SOB bast@rd America needed to defeat the Japanese!”)

• A third Uncle, who served in the Army Air Corps as a photo reconnaissance specialist and saw action in the New Guinea and Philippines Campaigns. (“[The Japanese] were shooting at us with bullets, and the only thing we could shoot back at them were photographs.”)

• My Dad, who served in the Army Air Corps during World War II as a Flight Officer in Consolidated Aircraft’s B-24 Bombers. He was scheduled to participate in Operation Olympic when atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki compelled the Imperial Nation of Japan to Surrender.

Again, thanks to all who served, and…

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