Posted on 11/10/2020 8:32:11 AM PST by PROCON
As coronavirus cases again surge across the country, the outdoors remains a rare and safe refuge for Americans, particularly for those struggling with anxiety or depression due to the pandemic.
On Wednesday, those hoping to reap the benefits of fresh air and the unseasonably warm weather in much of the country can explore national parks and forests for free in honor of Veterans Day.
And, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced U.S. military veterans and Gold Star families will be granted a lifetime of free access to national parks, wildlife refuges and other federal lands managed by the Department of the Interior.
"With the utmost respect and gratitude, we are granting Veterans and Gold Star Families free access to the iconic and treasured lands they fought to protect starting this Veterans Day and every single day thereafter," said Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt.
The access passes, called America the Beautiful, currently cost $80 per year and grant entry to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites spread out across more than 400 million acres of public lands, including Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Arches, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
Your a VETRAN, whether you got shot at or not makes no difference at all.
You were willing to enlist and accept the risk that you may have to (to quote Abraham Lincoln) give if necessary “THE LAST FULL MEASURE OF DEVOTION” to the country that you love and cherish, nothing else matters.
SEMPER FIDELIS
5th MEB
If your a VETRAN, just grab that double amputee VETRAN and either push his wheelchair, or throw his arm around your shoulder and drag him to the front of the line.
Remember; NO MAN GETS LEFT BEHIND!
SEMPER FIDELIS
5th MEB
Right back atcha, patriot!
:)
And a happy USMC birthday from a Swabbie to a Jarhead!
Will disappear shortly after a harris-biden inauguration...
Except it wouldn't.
Government accounting is totally different then anything in the real world. Every dollar a government program does not spend is deducted from their budget the next year. So you not taking a benefit just means that someone at the close of the fiscal year will be frantically ordering pens, post-its and other office supplies.
I wish they would allow government programs to have "rainy day funds" where ever thing you managed not to spend this year could be tucked away for when demand is up or to save for some major capital expenditure.
But they don't.
A nice gesture.
Although I was expecting Finance Corps, thanks to my degree in Public Accounting, my branch was Air Defense Artillery. That led to a 4+ year tour in Germany, in a battalion whose mission was short-range air defense: 6th Battalion, 56th Air Defense Artillery, motto "Night Hides Not".
After Germany, I spent 4 years at Fort Bliss, where I met my wife, and completed my Masters Degree on the GI Bill.
I know...I know how it all works, but...it is a personal thing, not a strictly rational thing.
I have long tried to live my life by telling myself that if it feels wrong, it is probably wrong...so if I am going to make an error in judgement, then it will be a generous error that I could have likely cut a finer corner on.
That is why I don’t view askance the way anyone else approaches things like this...I can hardly hold it against people for having better instincts and more common sense than I do...
When I say that I love my country, its acceptance into the military, education of me while on active duty, and opportunities offered to me (which have served me richly my entire adult life) are one of the main reasons.
I hear stories like yours (and mine) and it reinforces my gratitude for what the USA did for me as a citizen.
I get angrier than hell when I hear people say the military is institutionally racist...it is the most un-institutionally racist thing that exists in this country.
I used to think that voluntary military enlistment was something I would recommend to any young person, but some of the BS I see now...well...it gives me pause, I admit.
One of the things I enjoy about FR is meeting the veteran population, and knowing I usually (but not always) share many of the same feelings about many related things because they are very likely conservatives too (if I meet them on FR).
I don’t understand, down to my very bones, the concept of a Leftist in the US military.
The very culture of the military is antithetical to Leftism, and I simply cannot reconcile how to square that circle.
Who wouldn't, when returning soldiers were spit at in airports? The military was so hated where I lived, that I was ostracized for accepting an ROTC scholarship. LOL, I had teachers say to my face how "disappointed" they were in me.
That scholarship set me on a path to a great education, and incredible life experiences that I never could have imagined.
My service occurred at the start of the AVF, and it was a struggle. My battalion commander turned a C-3 battalion into a C-1, in large part to early discharges of over 60 underperforming soldiers in a bit over a year. The paperwork required was massive, and he took a lot of flak from higher HQ. Thank God he stood his ground.
They are formaly called "Paperback U. S. National Parks Adventure Journal & Passport Stamp Book : National Parks Map, Adventure Log, and Passport Book for Kids, Teens, Adults, and Seniors Book" They can be purchased in the Visitor Center
Once you have the passport, there is no longer a question of where can we go....... parks and monuments are all over the country
Our local Steak House hosts a Prime Rib Dinner for all Veterans this VD weekend, each year. It’s SO appreciated and I’ve not missed a meal there since they’ve started doing so. I always see someone who is wearing insignia that I recognize. Lots of good conversations come of that!
Beau and I also take friends and family there every chance we get, especially this year, to keep them in business. Even with Covid, they accommodated a small Birthday Party we had this summer. Good people!
They are a highly rated Supper Club in Wisconsin, so if anyone is ever visiting, once we’re released from our cages and/or gnaw through our leashes, don’t miss them!
https://www.hipointsteakhouse.com/
“...because I feel that a dollar of benefit I take is a dollar that could be applied to some other veteran program, but...it is just me.”
I feel the same way. I got my VA doctor to switch me to exams every 18 months, versus yearly - for the same reason. When I go to the VA and see all the banged up Vets with REAL medical issues, or the YOUNG women in my Support Group with serious PTSD from Kuwait and Iran, I, too, feel our dollars should be going to those people, versus me - who is on a mild diuretic for slightly elevated blood pressure.
*Rolleyes*
I count my BLESSINGS to have survived a military career during a time in our History when it didn’t necessarily mean a death or dismemberment sentence. I’m no Hero. I got LUCKY. And that’s a plain and simple FACT. :)
We used to have a Veteran’s ping list but I haven’t seen it in years. Any idea who held/holds it?
even as a veteran who did not serve in a hot war or combat theater, I get a little squeamish about going for some of the benefits that have been made available to the wider population of all veterans . . . . . .
__________________________________________________________
I don’t know where you served but I was never shot at. I don’t feel guilty. I lived underwater on a submarine for 4 years and got paid pennies per hour. Anybody who gives 4 years of their life like this should not feel ashamed.
Thinking that was covered years ago with the Gold Eagle passports.....????
Ahh...a Bubblehead!
I was flight deck crew on a carrier, and even as a young person (I saw a few people get killed up there in my four year tour) I didn’t have to task my active imagination very hard to understand that inattention and stupidity in that environment can get you killed just as fast as an enemy bullet can.
I know what you mean. I don’t feel ashamed in any way...it is just that I can’t readjust my filter...:)
We all know that, as the sailors who died at Pearl Harbor well illustrate, being at peace at 0700 doesn’t mean you will still be at peace at 0800.
Hm. I haven’t seen it in a while...now that you mention it, it seems odd that there isn’t one.
We have a pretty wide range of vets on here, too. The whole gamut, with a lot of experience. I tell a lot of stories...I like telling them as all sailors do...:)
But I really enjoy hearing them from others. I have a couple whose paths I came close to crossing...
I was telling a story once in this forum about a woman in Naples, Italy who was nicknamed “Humpty Dumpty” for her penchant for sitting on a stone wall near a castle where sailors used to pass (or go directly to...:) on liberty. She was a singularly overweight, unattractive woman, whose specialty was a sex act with her false teeth removed (or so I was told)
Every sailor knew of her, even if they had never seen her. Young, impressionable sailors were told on their first deployments not to go near The Castle, and to give Humpty Dumpty a wide berth.
Then, someone posted a picture of her, and I thought “OMG! That’s her!” There was some discussion, and an older sailor chimed in to inform us that there were more than a few iterations of Humpty Dumpty dating back to WWII, but they all occupied that spot on that low stone wall and were known by the same moniker.
Point is, this er...unusual point of common reference is just an example of an entertaining and, if I may say, educational occurrence here on FR.
It is just one of the reasons I have come back year after year...:)
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