I don’t have any family members, to my knowledge, who have completed service in the military. Due to this, when I was growing up I feel I had a pretty big disconnect from everything related to the military. Sure, I was taught to be respectful of people in authority, people who had served, people who were older than me…but I didn’t have a strong feeling about the meaning behind things like Veterans Day and what it actually symbolizes. When 9/11 occurred, perspectives changed for a lot of us. I started to think more in-depth about what some of the older generations have been through in their lifetime (for example, my grandparents were alive for the Great Depression AND Pearl Harbor AND 9/11, etc). This thought process has continued to develop and as each year passes I become more aware of how much our veterans have sacrificed for us to have freedoms that we definitely take for granted. While this may sound cliché, its clichéd because its true.

For example, at a previous place of employment a co-worker was once talking about the strange bathrooms that she had to endure while visiting in a foreign country. She asked someone who, coincidentally, had previously served in Afghanistan, if they could imagine what she went through with this bathroom experience. This veteran was, of course, not only able to imagine what the minor inconvenience of a weird bathroom would be like, but so much more that civilians could never imagine. Her story had sounded pretty terrible until it was put into perspective by this veteran’s response. Witnessing their conversation, however trivial it may have seemed to them, has shaped the way I think and feel about military service and how much it means to me.

These experiences, conversations, & thought processes have taken me beyond just having “respect” for veterans, and have moved me to the point of feeling extremely emotional on holidays such as Veterans Day (and as my close friends can attest, I am not a highly emotional person on average days). This year I was fortunate enough to get to spend a little time with a Vietnam veteran and ask him some questions about how his service shaped his life. I have to admit I was extremely nervous to interview this veteran as I have not experienced so much of what he must have gone through. When I asked him to tell me a little bit about being a recipient of the Navy Cross for heroism his answer was something that really stuck with me due to how, despite being vague, I could still get a feel for the hardship they must have faced–

“It was a particularly bad day, bad storm, and bad things happening, and an awful lot of very courageous & brave Marines did some wonderful things and I just happened to be there.”

While a lot of us get the day off for Veterans day tomorrow (11/11/15) and will spend the day having fun or sleeping in….I hope a lot of us also take the time to think about the sacrifices that those who have completed military service have made. While you may not make it to the Veterans Day parade or ceremony downtown, I implore you to at least set aside a few minutes to consider what veterans have gone through and be appreciative.

If you’re interested, you can get information about the parade & ceremony in Downtown Cleveland while watching my interview with Vietnam veteran Anthony Paskevich: