We’ve just finished our 41st annual Veterans Day parade in downtown Columbia, SC, where our company is located. My wife, Vivian, and I are keenly aware of the veterans in our family and circle of friends. Both of our fathers were war veterans. Kenneth Pershing Backues served as an officer in World War 2, and Merritt Eugene Ford served as a staff sergeant in the Korean War.
Like a lot of men in our parents’ generation, they didn’t talk much about their service. We’re going through letters and historical documents now that shed a bit of light on just exactly what they did and what kind of men they were. We are proud to call them our fathers.
Our son, Bobby, is a veteran, and his son Patrick, our oldest grandson, serves today. He just returned from a nine-month deployment overseas. Obviously, we’re happy he’s home safe, but we’re also so very proud of him wherever he is sent to protect our country.
We have friends like Col. Jim Motley, who served in the Special Forces during Vietnam. Jim is fighting the last battle of his life today.
Whomever and wherever, the men and women who put on the uniform for our nation deserve our humble gratitude and respect for their service to our country which could cost them their lives, and sometimes does.
Honor them today. Say thank you to a veteran you know. They may be just ordinary folks now, but part of their lives was put on hold to do something extraordinary for you and me.
All of us at Core Technology Solutions say, “Thank you!”