A small contribution.

I recently met a man who flew in Jimmy Stewart's bomber squadron during WWII. He was a tail gunner and his B-24 was hit over Germany forcing him to bail out. He spent the rest of the war in Stalag 17, which was made famous by the movie of the same name. Unfortunately, the rest of his crew didn't make it out of the plane.

On this day, veteran's day, it is good to reflect on those who have made sacrifices and even gave their lives for our country.

It seems petty in comparison to guys like this, but I thought I would share a couple of things I did during my time in the service. It was a small contribution.

Enlisted and set off to boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base on July 11th of 1988.

After completing Basic Training, The Law Enforcement Academy in Lackland, I was sent to Ft. Dix, NJ for Ground Combat School

After this, I was assigned to Davis Monthan Air Force Base here in Tucson.

Attended M-60 machine gun school, combat rifle school and Desert Warfare Training before my deployment to Dhahran Air Force Base on January 1st, 1991.

Was in Dhahran during Operation Desert Storm. Our base suffered the highest casualties of that conflict when a scud missile hit a National Guard encampment. I think I was playing volleyball with a net someone had made out of parachute cord when the missile hit. It was the last of several scuds that his out base.

Returned to DM on July 4th 1991 and separated from the Air Force on July 11th of 1992.

That's about it for the highlights. I am in awe of those who serve today and face multiple deployments and see that we are still threatened in this conflict, even on our own soil, by extremists like the shooter in Ft. Hood.

Thanks to all those who have served and who are serving and protecting us today.