Have A Good Day

Have a good day.
Veterans all.
Who enlisted voluntarily.
Or were recruited to perform a duty.
In these United States of America.
With a focus to serve in the military.

I enlisted.
In 1965.
As a young 'boy'.
With a purpose to serve a country I love.
Then I was just 18 years old.
Honorably discharged.
In 1968.
55 years ago.
With experiences to have earned them.
Not one to me given.
And to learn,
My blessings received...
To never take for granted.

And yet I will admit,
It has not been easy...
Tolerating B.S. patiently.
Or waiting to hear someone thank me.
For choosing not to fear or let it be shown,
How upset I became...
When being subjected to indignities.
Indignities thrown and known to me.
Unexpectedly.
By those who could less care,
For the life I lived to keep their freedoms.
Expressed as they are to address in protest,
As Americans citizens.
Entitled to do with documentation,
As they please and choose to do.
Disrespectfully.
Because of where they were born.
Especially if they had a certain look.
A certain appearance.
And a certain assumed status perceived.

Yet...
As a grown man now.
To become the man I am.
With no regrets of the choices I made.
Still I remain tolerant and patient of others.
Who have obtained entitlements given.
Deserved to have earned or not.
Nor understand what it means to learn,
To respect those different from themselves.
And only in the military,
Did I accept to learn...
What a difference it makes,
To rely on others.
With a doing to know,
Our feelings grow to become mutual!
A lesson I did not learn in school.
That I could and would become,
Even a better human being.
If I kept that thought in my mind active!

Have a good day.
Veterans all.
With much respect!