VETERANS

I‘ve been thinking for the past few weeks. Who am I? What am I becoming? Who will I be? The Veterans of today and yesterday have changed history. No doubt about that. They’ve fought for our freedom in many wars to secure our freedom. We should thank them. We should respect them. We should honor them. They protected our freedom and our future.
Who are we? In this room, we are all planning on enlisting in the armed forces. The noble Army, the strong Navy, and the wise Marines. Colonel, you’ve served your time, and on behalf of our class, we thank you for your continued sacrifice to your country. Between the Grunts, the Squids, and the Leathernecks, WHO are we? Today, we are cadets. Tomorrow, we are soldiers. We ARE the leaders of tomorrow. Tomorrow is our time to prove ourselves, but where would we be if it wasn’t for our Veterans? There wouldn’t be a tomorrow. Without our Veterans, we have no one to learn from. We must learn from their mistakes, so that we won’t make them again.
What are we becoming? We will be soldiers soon. Do you realize that you will eventually become Veterans? I know that we will not want to be set aside, and forgotten. We will have served our time. We will have sacrificed our time. We will have committed ourselves to our country. Our Veterans have done the same. Why bite the hand that feeds us?
We are Americans. Every one of us, because we believe in freedom, life, and the pursuit of happiness. We are not Americans because we live in this great country. We are Americans because we believe in the ideals of our forefathers, and I believe they honored the mot important rule: Treat others the way that you would like to be treated, simple, but effective. After all, in 50 years, Who will YOU be???