Let me start by saying thank you to all of the men and women who have fought for and are fighting for our country. It is too often that we take our liberties for granted and forget about the sacrifices that are made daily so that we can keep them. It is too often that we become so self absorbed that we do not think of those who have lost their lives, had their lives touched and the families who are suffering. It is too often that we turn war into a political discussion or a discussion of whether or not we should be in someone else's country. It is too often that we forget what is important and that is the fact that we have Americans in foreign countries who are fighting and dying for all of us back home.

My Grandfather was in the Army for WWII and Korea. I can't even imagine the sights, sounds and experiences he had. He never spoke of them and they have now died with him. By the time I got to know him he wasn't a military man and he never mentioned his time in the service. It wasn't until he passed in the 90's that I got to see his medals, the pictures of his battalion and the pictures of him and his family when he was tall and proud in uniform. He looked so young, so naive and so serious. I often wondered how the war changed him, whether the memories haunted him and if he had physical and emotional scars that he carried with him. My Grandfather was quiet, but his eyes always smiled. He was bald except for a cloud of white hair around his head and a big white beard that made him resemble Santa Claus. He use to let me ride his riding lawn mower as a child and he tried not to get angry when I drove it over his brand new tree...oops. He use to read to me the story of Heidi and tell me that he was like the Grandfather in that story as he lived in a chalet on a hill in Vermont...and I believed him. I never saw him in uniform, never saw a weapon in his hand and never heard him talk about fallen friends or comrades or those lives that he had to take. However, today I want to say thank you. Thank you for fighting for our country and for fighting so that I could have a future. Thank you for fighting for what you believed to be right and for carrying those scars , those memories and those experiences so that I could have my freedoms.

So I am sure many of you were expecting something more along the lines of Memorial Day BBQ recipes or tips for summer grilling or warm weather cocktails however I felt it was important to take a minute and give some credit to those amazing people who are fighting for our country. So to those of you in the military I will say what I always say to my cops "stay safe and come home to your families."