Love Letter from an Army Grunt

Love Letter from an Army Grunt

Click on a photo to see an enhancement

Veteran, I love you, you who stood up and did your duty when asked. Yes, each and every one of you I love. Those of you who were making a career out of your chosen service, those of you who enlisted to fight in a war or to do what you could to help support those who were fighting. And yes those of you who were drafted I loved you too, you could have ran you could have squeezed yourself into the overflowing colleges but you didn't, you went sometimes with hesitance not knowing or being torn by what you heard, but you served as proudly as any of the other Veterans.

I loved you Sea Bees. You built and labored so we could live and travel. You stole our beer but I still love you. That one was on us enjoy it, and be there for us when we need you too.

I loved you cooks and you mechanics and you typists who made sure my mail and orders got to me. What you did was important to me, whether it was important to others I do not care, I love you too.

I loved you who were in the Air force either working on a jet to assure it would be there for those who needed it, or those pilots who flew to support and lend your thunder to those of us who were facing eternal loneliness without your support. You know of what I speak.

I loved you who were in the Navy whether you were on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin preparing a bird of war to watch over us, or you who were riding a destroyer or a patrol boat watching our backs from those who would bring their weapons across the seas to harm us, and those of you who patrolled the rivers ever in danger of ambush daily. You were our brothers in spirit you know of what I speak.

I loved you Marine many of you were my brothers in spirit. You are proud and so be it, I am proud of you. Yes I love you, too. I admire your gung ho attitude and your Semper Fi bring it on we are the Marines. Many of you will know of what I speak.

I love you helicopter pilots and crews. Oh! You have all of our hearts from the transports to the gunships with your breath of fire there when needed to watch over us...and held oh so close to our hearts those of you who were our Angels of the Dust-off...braving any fire to save my brother.

But most of all I love you my grunt brothers, and please understand it does not take away from the love of the others, but we shared our C's. We shared our cigarettes, we shared our fears, we shared our ears to hear the screams of our other brothers...yes, the tears fell then, as they do now, as I write...after the bombs and after the fight. We sat and stared and tried to make sense of what we had just shared, and mourned those who today we still remember, those who are etched forever in black granite. So understand my Brother Vets I love you all ....but understand please they were there to hold me and cry...they walked the paths with me and shared the sights and wraths with me, they were my special brothers those of who I speak, I love you most of all. For in the end it was not for God and country but for each other.