I know this is a little late, but I just received it from a friend.
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What is a Vet.............

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn\ufffdt run out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She (or he) is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn\ufffdt come back AT ALL.

He is the one who sometimes tells his wife that he just can\ufffdt sleep, when really, he is afraid to return to sleep lest the Nightmares return.

He is the Parris Island drill instructor who has never seen combat -but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-accounts and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other\ufffds backs.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb of the Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean\ufffds sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life\ufffds most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That\ufffds all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot, \ufffdTHANK YOU.\ufffd

It\ufffds the soldier, \ufffdnot\ufffd the reporter, who gave us our freedom of the press.
It\ufffds the soldier, not the poet, who gave us our freedom of speech.
It\ufffds the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gave us our freedom to demonstrate.
It\ufffds the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves others with respect for the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Prayer for our Servicemen
Lord, hold our troops in Your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need.
I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Amen.

When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops not only in Afghanistan but all of the men and women stationed across the globe. There is nothing attached...

Of all the gifts you could give a U.S. serviceman, prayer is the very best one.

(Please send this on after a short prayer.)
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To all of the vets out there, no matter which country you represent, including the REMFs (of which I'm one), thank you for your service.