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Family Veterans 11/11/2015 9:31:02 AM
"Sometimes it's not good enough to do your best, you have to do what's required." Sir Winston Churchill
Odd that I chose a quote from an Englishman to thank and congratulate my son-in-law and my oldest grandson for their many years of service to our country on this Veterans' Day? Not at all.
Churchill's quote crosses cultural and generational boundaries to reveal its truth, not only in relation to Dr. Ralph G. Barrett and Todd Joseph Walter, but to each American citizen including you and I.
To keep the USA strong and ready to face the world's precarious challenges you and I, too, must do our best and also what is required of us daily as citizens in a free land.
I know firsthand of the facts of their service in the Navy and the Marines respectively. They routinely did their best on each of their tours in every location over the years, yet often went beyond and deeper to do what was required as did the men and women alongside them.
Retired Lt.Cmd.Ralph G. Barrett now teaches men and women college students serving as both professor and role model. Todd Joseph Walter provides assurance and comfort as a nationally certified paramedic and first-responder and remains in the Marine Reserves.
I am proud to be mother-in-law and Gramma to two such fine examples of American men. I thank them and all who have served since we became a country.
I pray for those now deployed around the world who continue to take on the enemy though he manifest in military, psychological, or cultural forms. God bless them all, every one.
