Thank You For Your Service.

On this Veterans Day, I’d like to take a break from my typical sales guy blog and thank all of our veterans for their service to our country. Just as a point of reference, Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day; Veterans Day celebrates the service of all military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving. According to the Census Bureau, there are almost 20 million veterans in the United States. These are the men and women that provided us the freedom we have today and they should be applauded, hugged, and thanked from the bottom of our hearts. Unless you know a veteran, you might not realize the huge sacrifices that they made when they answered the call of service. They often sacrificed relationships or marriages, high paying jobs, friends and family, their health, and ultimately in some cases their lives. These men and women served conscientiously to protect our country, our freedom, and our families. Though we may have political, social, moral, economical, or religious differences; we are all Americans. The advantage of being an American is that we are free. We are free to have an opinion different from others, free to have a voice and use it, and free to make our own choices about so many things. These freedoms were bought and paid for by the blood, sweat, and tears of our veterans and their families. Please remember on this Veterans Day that freedom is not free and that there is always a cost paid by someone. From the veterans that fought for our independence and freedom from England over 200 years ago, to the ones that served all over the planet, I say thank you for your service, your sacrifice, and your love of country. More than that I would like to challenge every American today to find a Vet and shake their hand and thank them for their service. They earned it and they deserve it. Robert L. Rollins, Jr. Petty Officer Second Class United States Coast Guard 1983-1991