The "Here's To The Heroes Of Our Country" Story

Old Glory flies outside LDub's house in Lancaster, PA

It was an ordinary day.  My flag is waving in the light breezes on my front porch and the articles abound in the local newspaper about the heroes who gave their lives in service to their country.  On this  Memorial Day I would like to express my thanks and gratitude  to all my relatives, friends and acquaintances who served in the armed forces to keep my country free and a safe place for me and my family to live.  

Brother Steve and me.

Yesterday my family celebrated with a pool party at my brother's house in nearby Ephrata, PA.  My brother Steve was in the U.S. Marines in the late 60s, serving in Japan.  Got me thinking about how many countries our service men and woman currently serve in to protect our freedom.  Do you know that our military is deployed in over 150 countries around the world with close to 160,000 active-duty troops serving outside the US.  

My sister-in-law Kathy decorated the front of the house
with flags to honor her husband, Steve.

Over 67,000 are stationed in Europe.  I just assumed Europe had their own troops who could handle their own problems, but I guess we want to make sure they do it correctly.  We also have about 52,000 stationed in East Asia and the Pacific as well as almost 5,000 in North Africa, the Near East and South Asia.  Then there is the Western Hemisphere, the Sub-Saharan Africa and the states that used to be the former Soviet Union.  We have troops in ALL those countries.  As of now only those troops serving in Afghanistan are seeing active action.  Our country is well protected in the name of freedom!  Well, anyway, my brother decided that he wanted to have a big celebration during the holiday weekend so our family gathered around his pool.  Had the event catered by a neighbor.  The food was fantastic, as usual, and the family had a great celebration in honor of my brother and all others who served, or are currently serving, in the armed forces of our country.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.