A friend of mine’s father held extremely high rank in the Armed Services. Once one of the most powerful men in the world, as he grows older, his influence lessens. Recently he commented “Nobody remembers who I was anymore.”
I think a lot of veterans feel that way.
I once saw a Pearl Harbor vet at a gas station in Woodinville, WA. As my kids protested, I went up to him and reached out my hand. He looked startled and a little frightened, until I said “I want to thank you for your service and sacrifice.” He started to get misty-eyed, and said softly “Thank you for remembering.” His elderly wife leaned over and said, out the open window: “Thank you for remembering. Nobody remembers anymore.”
To which I responded: “I do.”
To those men, and to all the others who served, I wrote this haiku for Veterans Day:
We may not recall/
who you were anymore, but/
we know what you did.
Cyrano Writer: Musings of a Revolutionary Romantic Poet 
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