Veteran's Day on the Bucket List Tour

[wordworks2001]

The real American Veteran's Day falls on Sunday this year. The other day, the manager of the motel Lori and I are staying in for the month of November, The Butterfield Stage Motel, came over to our room to invite us over for cake and coffee on Vet's Day.

John is an old Vietnam War vet, like me. He wears his Vietnam War baseball cap every day and every morning he personally unfolds Old Glory and hangs her next to the motel's office door. Then every evening, at dusk, he reverently takes it down, folds it and stores it inside until the next day.

The Butterfield Stage Motel is not new. It doesn't boast the latest in amenities. It doesn't even have a pool. What it does have, is a lot of character and a friendly manager named John who more than makes up for what is missing.

Another tradition John and his wife celebrate besides Vet's Day Cake & Coffee is Thanksgiving Dinner. Yesterday John told me his wife makes Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings for whatever travelers happen to be staying in the motel on that day. He also does the same for Christmas.

John says he started the Christmas Dinner tradition several years ago when the only guests at the motel was a poor Mexican family stranded in Deming by a broken down car on the biggest holiday of the year. It made he and his wife feel so good, they added Thanksgiving to the annual dinner schedule.

It's not new but the rooms are clean, spacious and comfortable. If you ever find yourself in Deming and are looking for a great place to stay, especially on Thanksgiving, Christmas, or, if you are a vet, Veteran's Day, try the Butterfield Stage Motel and tell John Jeff and Lori said HI! — in Deming, NM

[Note: A lot of PD victims who served in Vietnam were exposed to a nasty defolient called Agent Orange. In 2010, exposure to AO became a presumptive cause of the PD Vietnam War vets suffer. If you were in Vietnam and the military, check with the VA]

[jillannf6]

THNKS AGAIN FOR AN INTERESTING POST!

IT IS REMEMBRANCE DAY THIS SUNDAY (IE TODAY TOO )SO WE SHALL AT 11 AM HAVE 2 MINS SILENCE REMEMBERING ALL THOSE WHO DIED IN WW1AND WORLD WAR II, AND OF COURSE WE R ALSO REMEMBERIGN THOSE WJHO HA VE LOS TTHEIR LIVES IN MORE RECENT STRUGGLES / WARS LIKE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

{I AMA PACIFIST BY THE WAY}

LOL JILL

[wordworks2001 in reply to jillannf6]

Jillann, thanks. I was a soldier for 20 years. Like most soldiers, I hate war. I believe every war we have been in since WWII was avoidable.

[Espo]

Veterans Day has been through almost as many battles as the war whose official end it was originally intended to commemorate. Indeed, various countries celebrate it but can’t agree on when to have it or what to call it, and within the US we can’t even agree on how to spell it. In the UK it is celebrated in June and it was originally called Veterans Day, but in 2009 the name was changed to Armed Forces Day. Australia and Canada celebrate Remembrance Day on November 11th. In New Zealand a few people celebrate on November 11th, but their national day of remembrance is Anzac Day, April 5th. France is one of the few countries that continues to commemorate November 11th as Armistice Day.

In the US, the holiday often appears printed as Veteran's Day or Veterans' Day; and although these spellings are grammatically acceptable, the US government has declared that the attributive (no apostrophe) rather than the possessive case is the official spelling.

But whatever it is called, and however it is spelled, it is a day to acknowledge the invaluable contributions made by those who have worn the uniform and who have sworn an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” in order to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” A Liberty which today, too many of us take too much for granted.

[wordworks2001 in reply to Espo]

Thank you for the reply and the history lesson. Very interesting.

[PatV]

thanks. makes me nostalgic for my childhood trips from Ohio and Minnesota to California and back. and thanks to all veterans for their service

[wordworks2001 in reply to PatV]

Thanks PatV

[jonroberts]

I went to the New Mexico State football game yesterday. It was Military Day. Soldiers from White Sands Missle Range attended and honored. The National Anthem was sung by a female soldier (can't remember her name) and she did a fantastic rendidition. At halftime the NMSu band, The Pride of New Mexico, played patriotic songs including America and God Bless America.

I'm glad to here you and Lori are enjoying yourself and found Deming to have New Mexico hospitality! By the way, Red or green!

[wordworks2001]

Thanks for the reply Jon. We like our chilis red!

[JennyR]

Sounds as if you have found a "special"place for the month of November. Enjoy these patriotic and selfless people. More honor should be given to our veterans, They have sacrificed their lives and some their families to defend this country. And what are they receiving in return? People are finally beginning to realize, thankfully.

[wordworks2001 in reply to JennyR]

Thanks JennyR

[CJ49]

Jeff, thank you for your service to this country,,,and thank you for sharing your meeting such "warm hearted and thankful" people as John and his wife.

My brother is a veteran from 'Nam also. I think you soldiers are probably the most warm and appreciative people...Freedom is taken for granted by so many...we voice our opinions, do as we see fit, an live in one of the most "beautiful countries" on the face of this earth..."Thank you for help making all this possible...and for keeping the spirit of America strong."

CJ

[wordworks2001 in reply to CJ49]

Thanks CJ