A blog about quilting and using the LEFT-EZE Rule - my HST/QST Ruler designed for LEFT-HANDED Quilters -
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Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Veteran's Day - 11/11/14
Today is Veteran's Day -
And I want to say THANK YOU!! -
To ALL of the MEN and WOMEN who ARE SERVING -
HAVE SERVED -
or WILL SERVE -
In our nation's MILITARY - ;))
I am PROUD to have been the daughter of a World War II Veteran - ;))
Yes, I am a baby boomer - ;))
And I am PROUD to have been the wife of a Veteran who served during the Vietnam War era -;))
My husband served before we were married -
So I was never a Military wife -
But my bloggy buddy - Chris (Shared Creativity) was -
And she describes what it was like -
Quite well on her blog - HERE - ;))
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When my husband died recently -
I put the VA file in the “Pending” accordion file for later -
I figured -
No VA pension -
And his body was donated to a medical school for research -
So -
No body -
No burial -
No funeral service -
I was wrong - ;))
When I finally got around to actually READING the VA Burial Benefits - HERE -
It turned out that I could apply for several things on his behalf -
A burial flag - HERE - which I got from the post office -
A Presidential Memorial Certificate - HERE -
Pending -
And “In Memory Of” Memorial Headstones and Markers -
Are available to those whose bodies are “donated to science” - HERE - ;))
We will have a Memorial Service soon -
Since I recently found out that his Memorial Marker was approved -
And has been installed - ;))
When I called the cemetery to arrange for the Memorial Service -
And spoke to the Specialist to arrange for the Military Honors -
He told me to bring my husband's flag -
And that an Honor Detail would fold it -
And "present" it to me -
During the ceremony - ;))
Just hearing him say that -
Brought me to tears -
So when we have the Memorial Service -
I know that I will be a blubbering mess - ;))
A VERY PROUD and blubbering mess - ;))
I was able to get him a Memorial Marker in a National Cemetery for Veterans - ;))
We didn't think that we could -
But we didn't read the fine print -
So I think that he would have liked that we actually could -
And did - ;))
And I want to THANK EVERYONE who takes this day -
To HONOR OUR MILITARY!! - ))
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -
I agree, those who serve or have served deserve to be honored.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gene - and those who will serve in the future should know that they will be honored also - ;))
DeleteI, too, was an "Army brat", my first husband was in the Air Force and that took me overseas, my current husband of 36 years served in Viet Nam. My G-pa was a military man, my son was in the Army and his son is talking about serving. I guess Patriotism is in our blood.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Memorial service for your hubby, yes take tissues. I was presented my dad's flag at his burial and it was the most emotional time of the whole day for me. Such a great honor so I'm glad you checked further into the VA benefits.
Me, too - we thought that since there would be no "remains" that there would be no "burial" - there was nothing to bury - but the "In Memory Of" markers are meant for just that purpose - and we are thankful for that - ;))
DeleteI am tearing up just reading this post---yes, I am behind catching up with you and still owe you an email. My weepiest moment this month was when my dad sent a picture of the headstone. Just seeing our names etched in stone was rough. Still, I am glad that his site is now properly marked. Your husband deserves the honor but it may be hard to get through it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda - It was a beautiful service - and yes, i did lose it several times - but that's OK - we all lost it at various points. And for the time being - only his name is on the marker - but I was told that when my time comes that marker will be destroyed and will be replaced with another one that includes my name - ;))
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