Today is a special day to honor soldiers here and gone. I too thank all those who serve to protect the freedoms we enjoy. You have my sincere thoughts this day.
I think often about my late father’s service under Patton in WWII and then his service later in Korea. Like most veterans from the greatest generation, my father did not talk much about his service. But the story that stands out the most in my mind is the invasion of Sicily. Dad said he went 3 weeks straight without changing his undershorts. He loved Patton and said one great thing about fighting for him was that they never had time to sit around and worry about tomorrow, as they were always moving forward.
So when my son or I get down, including baseball or life in general, all we say to each other is “at least you got to change your underwear today” and we know how little sacrifice we have compared to what Grandpa went through. It puts things in perspective pretty fast.
God bless those fallen and those that will fall, for giving us the life we enjoy today.