Salute to our Montana Vets!

Yesterday was Veterans Day (observed as a federal holiday today).  I'm always surprised when scrolling thru Facebook on Veterans Day, how many of my friends are either: 1) veterans themselves, or 2) are parents of a vet, have parents as a vet or have a brother/sister/cousin, etc that is a Veteran. I guess it shouldn't be so surprising. Montana has always had a very high percentage of enlistees. I wish I could remember the stat, but it's a lot.

My dad served in Vietnam.  I called last night to wish him a "happy" Veterans Day. I always feel weird saying "happy" Veterans Day.  I'm not sure a ton of Veterans consider what they experienced on the battlefield as happy.  My dad has only told a very few random stories about his service. I know he caught the tail end of the war and that one time he used the bucket of his Caterpillar to sleep under at night and would recall bullets pinging off the heavy metal scoop.  Scary.  Some day I would like to sit down with him over some beers and see if he'll open up about it.  He's never really volunteered and I've never really pried.

If you are a Veteran, thank you so much for your service to our great country. ML&R.

Next time,

Michael