Thanks to our veterans.

"Happy Veterans Day" doesn't seem to be as much of a faux pas as "Happy Memorial Day," but it would be less likely to commit. Memorial Day, really a somber occasion, has become a weekend for all kinds of non-honoring-the-dead activities. Veterans Day honors the living, and because it is not placed in a warm-weather month, nor does it migrate into a three-day weekend, stays truer to its purpose.

Too, Veterans Day may be considered a happier occasion, as we celebrate those who have committed their lives and their health and pretty much everything else to the service of our nation, and have survived.

Credit where it's due: I thought Google did a nice job today. Over the years they've gotten a lot of well-deserved flak for failing to note our patriotic holidays appropriately, but this was pretty good.

It's a great day to thank a vet, whenever and wherever they served our nation, in whatever capacity. I never did, as the army seemed to have all the potato peelers it needed, and I thought the talents I cultivated in my youth (drinking beer, watching TV) were required on my sofa rather than in Germany or on the DMZ in Korea.

A friend of mine did a couple of tours in Iraq, but prior to that was an EMT in New York City. His PTSD is more closely related with his medical service on 9/11 than his suicide-bomber related injuries in Iraq. He's a good and patriotic man, husband and father, adjusting well back into civilian life. He's looking at another spinal surgery now, years after his service, but he knows he's one of the lucky ones.

I've often prayed, and I still do, that our nation may be more worthy of the sacrifice of its veterans. I hope you will do that today as well.