The Big Thing: I was never in the military, though I understand how important their jobs are to protect us all. I "came of age" during the Vietnam War in college, and that wasn't exactly the best of times... I demonstrated against that war. Not the soldiers, but the war itself. It left a very strong anti-war feeling in me that lasts to this day.
I grew up with the WWII tradition of "good war". Not that it was good to have a war, but that it was "good" to defend freedom and free oppressed nations, even at great cost.
Most of my (numerous) Uncles fought in WWII. Those who were turned down for service did what they could. It takes a determined man to be told he was unfit for service and then spend the war building submarines, for example. "They also serve..."
To all of those wo gave their lives then in the service of their country; to all those who were wounded; to all those whose sleep is still troubled by bad memories and lost friends; to all those whose lives were delayed, disrupted, or ruined; to those who didn't get the parade and honors that they should have had when they returned...
I am sorry.
I am sorry you didn't get to come home and marry your girlfriend or see your children grow up. I am sorry your parents miss you everyday and can only imagine what a fine person you would have become. I'm sorry that you can't get around without a wheelchair or can't see, or have trouble breathing. I'm sorry you never got to see humans land on the Moon or chat with friends on the internet. Silly as it may seem, I'm sorry for all the loss of companionship of animal friends you never had the opportunity to meet. Somewhere out there RIGHT NOW, there is a shelter animal you would have adopted, were you around to save it.
I've seen the bright blue skies and rainy days you were cheated out of. The new jokes you never got to hear, the good news events (and the bad ones, too). You should have had a chance to see The Wall, without your name on it...
In 1992 (the same year I found Skeeter), I returned to college to complete my undergraduate degree (not equating it at all, but non-soldiers also had their lives disrupted by the troubles of the time). I took a class on 'The Vietnam War'. I was the only "adult" in the class. I had to re-experience the campus demonstrations (saw pictures of some that I was involved in, too). I had to tell the class of those times, and it was very hard. The class visited Washington DC (nearby) and we went to The Wall.
I hadn't been to it before. I didn't think I had the right, if you understand... I started to shake, looking at that stark expanse of names. I sat down and cried. Everyone in the class was looking at me. I didn't know a single person whose name was there (that I knew of), but it was as if the whole Wall had just fallen right over on me. I guess that was a bit of a shock to my classmates...
The teacher helped me up after a few minutes. She said there is usually "one of us" in each class of "that age" and that the strong reaction was not uncommon.
Time will pass, as it will, and memories dim. I will pass. The sacrifices that others have made will not pass.