This is a great story that has been floating around for a while. It just hit a chord with me for some reason.
A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. ‘You have been to France before, monsieur?’ the customs officer asked sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. ‘Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.’
The American said, ‘The last time I was here, I didn’t have to show it.’
‘Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France!’
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained. ‘Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find any Frenchmen to show it to.’
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What Is A Veteran? A Veteran — whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve — is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to ‘The United States of America’, for an amount up to and including his life. That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today who no longer understand that fact.