Veteran's day

LeRoy Bloom, believed with his heart and soul that Veterans, all Veterans became heros because they permitted country to come first, honor was to serve, and freedom was precious enough to fight for even if it meant in that fight you placed your life at risk. He served in the Second World War, and was proud enough to talk about it if you asked, and quiet enough to know that what he and his fellow Veterans sometimes needed no discussion because after all this is the land of the free.

Leroy Bloom was my father-in-law, my children’s grandfather and a man who when he walked into the room immediately made friends and when he left, people saying only the nicest things about him. He told me to always buy American, even when American cars seemed to rust or go bust three days after you purchased them. When a flag was raised at any ceremony he would tear up, and his hand was alway placed tightly to his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.

I learned about the cost of war, fighting it or the consequences of letting the bad guy win. I learned about the armed services the good the bad and the inevitable. I learned about victories and how defeat can teach a lesson, one you should, if wise enough, never forget or repeat. I learned that loving your country was something you earned not because you were born here, but you believed the dreams and desires it could provide. I learned that all America did or does is not necessarily good, but fighting for better is worth the fight.

I have known very few Veterans and know very few stories about life in a war zone, holding the hand of a comrade as he is wounded, fighting the memories of nightmares, coming home to no job, coming home disabled, coming home to a life which at one time was my reality but now seems foggy and distant. I listen as Veterans are interviewed on television, watch with sobs and tears as a small child runs into the arms of his mommy or daddy, squirm as I hear the tough decisions made to defend their lives while having to take the lives of others.

LeRoy Bloom put a heart and soul on the random faces of men and women who came home from military service. He quietly, but proudly put names and reason on the faces of the men and women who fought, who enlisted who served. He redefined for me who and what a veteran is and is not.

As with all Veteran’s Days past and present I celebrate those who have participated in something I will never know first hand. And as with all Veteran Days I immediately think about how lucky I was to have known and loved LeRoy Bloom.