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What a week I have had.
My back went belly up on me last Saturday, and I have been suffering ever since. I am taking Tylenol to help.
Today I went to have a blood test done. I turned to go into the parking lot, and I was amazed to see at least a hundred cars lined up to get tested for the virus. There is panic here. In my county there have been many people coming down with the virus. The blood test came out great, and I got out of there as fast as I could.
There are other problems, but I am through whining for now.
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Did you take advantage of all the free things for Veteran’s Day?
I hope you did. You certainly deserve it. I told you in a previous post that my Veteran’s Day day was being at the Oregon Coast. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the little town I went to was having a Veteran’s Day event. They were right across the street where I was getting a haircut.
I so wanted to join them. I could see all the American Legion hats, and they were hugging and really enjoying themselves. My haircut took too long and the event was over. However, it felt good to see such a small town gathering to honor our veterans.
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I will share another excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.
I have chosen one about a Vietnam veteran that is from the same town that I got my heair cut at. It is the town of Waldport, Oregon.
He shared with me a story that was very positive and hard to find from soldiers of the ERA.
He said:
” I was sitting on the ground with a buddy, when I looked up into the trees. There were a bunch of monkeys up there playing around. I told him I would love to have one of those monkeys as a pet. ” His buddy said he would take care of that. He cut a hole in a coconut, drained all the milk out of it, and place a quarter inside it.
The Veteran then told me, “My buddy put the coconut out in the middle of an opening with a string attached to it. Sure enough the monkey’s saw the glittering of the quarter on the inside of the coconut and soon there were several nearing the coconut. One monkey reached inside to try to get the quarter out and my buddy yanked on the string catching the monkey with his arm stuck in to coconut. He pulled the monkey next to me and I got ahold of him..”
That started a long friendship with the monkey. The veteran even made a home for him to live in. It had a grass bed, food and drink there for him, and things were going great. The monkey really bonded with him to the point that he could let the monkey out and sit with him. He didn’t run away.
Well, some odd things started happening.
The other men were complaining that things had been stolen from their personal stash of food. Yes, it was the monkey. One soldier threatened to get rid of the monkey if he didn’t keep control of it. The monkey kept stealing food.
Then the other soldier had enough. He grabbed the money. He made a miniature parachute for him and threw him over a cliff.
The veteran was very upset that this had happened. He became depressed.
It was a couple days later, and as the whole group was gathered, this brave little monkey came strolling into the camp with the parachute still attached to him.
The veteran was ecstatic.
He had gotten his monkey back. I couldn’t get much more out of this brave veteran. This rest of his story was too sad for him to tell. I did find out that he was severely wounded, and received the Purple Heart. He ended up with a drinking problem, but overcame that with the help of his wife.
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Checking in..
How are your doing my friend? The times are difficult at best. The pandemic, and rioting. Not knowing who will be our next president, and much more.
The days like we have been having can drag you down . It can push you to the edge. I know, I was on the edge way back in 2001. I was ready to check out of this hotel called earth. I came to my senses and got help. I am still here to be able to write to you.
If you are overwhelmed, GET HELP!!
Here is a toll free number to call 24/7, and it is free. There are highly trained counselors there the help you. They will not hang up until they know you are OK.
1-800-273-8255 Option # 1
Please call if you need it.
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Remember:
You are never alone.
You are never forsaken.
You are never unloved.
And above all…never, ever, give up!
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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it. I want to reach out to as many veterans as possible.