Some veterans bear visible signs of their service:  a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye.  Others may carry the evidence inside them:  a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg or perhaps, another sort of inner steel:  the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.  Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.  You can't tell a vet just by looking.

What is a Vet?

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers don't run out of fuel.

He is the bar room loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She or he is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL!

He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat, but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all  the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the oceans's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the super market - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hiold him when the nightmares comes.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice others.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known,

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say "Thank You".  That's all most people need, and in most cases, it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU".

"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag."

PLEASE - on this holiday, and all to come, don't forget  our vets!

3-4 T. flour
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1-1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1-1/2 to 2 lbs. round steak, cut into serving pieces
1 cup sliced onions
1 lb. carrots, diced
1 (14.5 oz.) can whole tomatoes
1 T. brown sugar
1-1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce

Combine flour, salt, pepper and dry mustard.  Dredge meat in flour mixture and brown on both sides in oil in skillet.  Transfer to slow cooker.  Add onions and carrots.  Combine tomatoes, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce; pour into slow cooker.  Cover and cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10  hours or on High 3 to 5 hours.

1 box regular yellow cake mix
1 (20 oz.) can cherry pie filling
1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple or tidbits, undrained
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Grease a 9x13 pan.  Spread pineapple with juice in bottom of pan.  Top with the pie filling.  Spread dry cake  mix over all.  Pour melted butter evenly over top.  Sprinkle with nuts.  Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes to 1 hour.

1 cup chopped dates
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup boiling water
Mix together and let cool.
Cake:
1 cup sugar
½ cup Crisco
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/4 cups plus 2 T. flour
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
Cream together cake ingredients; add date mixture and blend well.  Our into a greased 9x13 pan.
Topping:
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup chopped walnuts
¾ cup chocolate chips
Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle over batter.  Bake at 350º for 40 minutes.

BEEF VEGETABLE SOUP

1 to 1-1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 onion, chopped

4-6 stalks celery, chopped

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can kidney  beans, drained

1 large container Swanson’s chicken broth

Chili powder to taste

Bag of frozen mixed vegetables (1/2 bag or more)

1 to 2 cups chopped carrots

Salt and pepper to taste

1 small head cabbage, chopped



Ground beef browned with chopped onions.  Add celery, carrots, stewed  tomatoes, kidney beans and large container Swanson’s chicken broth, chili powder.  Simmer until vegetables are tender.  Add part of a bag of frozen mixed vegetables,  salt and pepper to taste.  Add chopped cabbage last 30 minutes.

Note:  For added flavor, add Knorr vegetable dip mix, about 1/2 env.  optional.