Thank you, brother & sister veterans!

[suncat05]

To ALL of my fellow veterans here and elsewhere, there can never be enough thanks and respect given for all of the many sacrifices you all have made for a grateful nation! God bless all of you, and may God continue to bless these United States of America! :sFl_america2:

[Krank]

Thanks suncat, and I echo your thoughts.

Thanks to all who have served AND who will in the future!

[KSRBEvans]

I've been doing some genealogy research lately and that probably has one of my great-great grandfathers, James Flaugher, on my mind today. He was a Corporal in D Company, 40th Kentucky Infantry, when he came back to his home in Carter County on leave in September, 1864. While on leave, he was captured by CSA guerrillas and transported to Richmond. He was then sent south to the infamous Salisbury Prison (http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/708/entry) where he died of disease in December, 1864. He left a wife and my maternal grandfather's mother, Martha Flaugher O'Brien.

I have relatives who served on both sides (and I'm sure many of you, too). But imagine being captured while home on leave--Kentucky was that kind of place back then. It's like something out of the movie Cold Mountain (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159365/). His unit was deactivated (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40th_Regiment_Kentucky_Volunteer_Infantry#Service) just 3 months after he was captured--ironically, if he'd not been given leave he probably would've lived.

[Darrell KSR]

Thanks to all who have served, will serve, and to the families and friends of those as well.