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By Alyssa, November 11, 2011 3:09 pm

Here are a few of my favorite vets that I was honored to serve alongside…

Mustang, my first Platoon Sergeant... this man taught me how to be an officer.

My crew... Bags and Bourlier. They put up with me for sure. Yes, that's me with the cheesy grin.

CPT J, my first commander... Instead of go home he'd say, "Piss off, Alyssa." Love it.

Mike, a most loyal friend.

My S1 peeps, oh the stories!

A few from my Company, good troops. Again, I'm in the middle with the cheesy grin.

1SG Red... took a lot of convincing to get him in that hat.

My big brothers, Daryl and Travis.

Last but not least... the Colonel or Dad.

There are so many more that I just don’t have pictures of, so to all of you amazing veterans, God bless you!

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By Alyssa, November 12, 2009 1:07 am

I can’t sleep after a busy Veteran’s Day.  I had the grand idea today to use my veteran’s Home Depot discount to buy paint for our master bedroom.  Twelve hours later, I succeeded in painting the room with only a few splotches on the carpet courtesy of the 4-year old.  Painting most of the day gave me a lot of time to think about my first veteran’s day out of the active Army.  I couldn’t help but ponder sacrifices.  My grandfathers’ sacrifices.  One left the farm and high school to discover sea sickness on a naval ship.  The other left his new bride for a year to fight in World War II in the South Pacific.

Veteran’s Day is my parent’s anniversary.  They celebrated their 31st with a phone call as my dad is currently in Iraq on his second deployment.  My dad enlisted in the Army 28 years ago, answering his call to serve as a 29-year-old father of two.  My mom’s held down the home front, their business, and the farm, for every drill and deployment, usually without breaking a sweat.  You can’t celebrate veterans without acknowledging the sacrifices of their families.

I thought today of the soldiers I’ve been privileged to serve along side.  I used to make my them fill out a 3×5 card, a “get-to-know-you” card, just for me.  Besides the usual, name, rank, family information, I asked them to tell me why they joined the military.  I pulled out a few of the cards today. They were dated October 2002.

I joined the Army…

because my Mom wanted one of her sons in the military.

to do something with my life.

because I hated Minnesota.

to provide for my daughter.

to get out of my house.

to serve.

A few months after writing these cards, I deployed with these soldiers.  I’m still amazed at how collected they seemed when we crossed into Iraq for the first time, many of them still in their teens.

I had a happy Veteran’s Day.  Happy that I’ve survived two deployments.  Happy that I left active duty to provide for my family at home.  Happy that my little Bubba told me today he can’t wait till he’s bigger and drives a car and plays in the Army.  I guess I should go to bed, but not without thanking all of the soldiers that are away from their families tonight.  Happy Veteran’s Day to you!  I eagerly await your safe return home and thank you for your sacrifice.  I pray for you every day… even the day after Veteran’s Day.

March 2003, Iraq