Cartoon Roundup: Veteran’s Day 2014

Hi everyone – Happy Veteran’s Day!  An extra big thank you to all combat veterans – my thoughts and prayers are with all of you especially today.

I saw some really good cartoons for today, but I wanted to start with this –

Yup – that’s what Google looks like today!  I will admit that it makes me a little nostalgic because the Air Force girl standing in for the letter “L” actually looks a lot like how I looked in uniform.

Yup you read that right – yours truly spent three whole years in the Air Force, which technically makes me a veteran.  But to be honest I don’t think I deserve the title.  I sat in a bunker with headphones and didn’t see a day of combat; my life was never actually in danger.  When I think of someone who has earned the title “veteran” I think of these gentlemen –

They are the ones who have truly earned today’s traditional social nicety –

Speaking of which, I read an interesting opinion on that phrase, “Thank you for your service.”  I was never sure what to say in response, especially since there are SO many people who deserve thanks for their service and their sacrifice before I do.  But I finally found the right response – “The honor was mine.”  Because that’s how I feel – every day it was a privilege to don the uniform and symbolically become a part of our indomitable national defense machine.

In no particular order –

Just a couple images I thought were cool.  As someone who appreciates the military traditions of saluting the flag and other gestures of respect toward our national symbols, I like the image of Uncle Sam (and symbolically the whole country) turning the tables and saluting the veterans.

I picked this one just because it’s clearly a non-white soldier.  I didn’t see too many cartoons recognizing the racial diversity of our armed forces, so I had to grab this one.

A cynical juxtoposition of how we celebrate Veteran’s Day vs. what a significant number of veterans have to actually put up with.

And to finish it off – ever since I was introduced to the poem in middle school, I can’t read the poem In Flanders Fields without tearing up.

And on that note, I wish I could think of a graceful way to close, but instead I’ll just say to all the veterans out there – Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your service!