We can clearly see that some veterans bear visible signs of their service... a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in their eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them... a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in their leg, or another sort of inner steel... the soul’s ally, forged in the refinery of adversity. Other than parades, the men and women who have kept America safe, mostly go unnoticed. So who are these veterans? They're the cops on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn’t run out of fuel. They're the barroom loudmouths, whose juvenile behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel. They're the nurses who fought against futility and went to sleep crying every night for two solid years in Da Nang. They're the POW's who went away one person, and came back another... if they came back at all. They're the Quantico Bay drill instructors that have never seen combat, but have saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other’s backs. They're the soldiers who pin on their ribbons and medals with prosthetic hands. They're the older guys bagging groceries at the supermarket... palsied now and aggravatingly slow, who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that their wives were still alive to hold them when the nightmares come. They're the ordinary and yet extraordinary human beings, who offered some of their most vital years in the service of their country, and who sacrificed their ambitions so others wouldn't have to sacrifice theirs. They're the finest and greatest testimonies on behalf of the finest and greatest nation ever known. So let's remember, each time we see somebody who's served our country, to just say to them, "Thank you." These two simple words will mean more to them than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded. Just two simple words that mean so much.... "Thank you".

So who are these veterans?