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FIRST – before anything else – thank you to our World War II veterans … God bless each and every one of you and your family members! You are our heroes, we look up to all of you, we respect you, and we are and will always be in your debt! The great men and women who signed up to serve, even if you were younger than you were required to be to enlist, you did it anyway to serve our great nation; you came as a united front to fight evil; you were the ones that inspired so many after all these years because you set an example of sacrificial service. You were resolute in your determination to overcome … no matter the cost … you were as tough as nails, lovingly stubborn and true blue Americans who stepped up and faced the giants. You heard the call for help, you understood what was at stake, and you accepted the challenge and risk because you were INCREDIBLE. You had the willingness to conquer adversity and with strength, courage and an undeniable devotion to America, you went and you fought, you were and are patriots. We admire you and we love you ALL!

June 6, 1944 – D-Day in Normandy … this year marked the 80^th anniversary remembering you, saluting you and the comrades you lost. In all the forth coming anniversaries each year, you will be in our minds and in our hearts!

As I have said several times in this column, I am not a constant user of Facebook. In fact, short of wishing a friend “Happy Birthday” in a comment or offering prayers if they are sick, I rarely post anything. However, what I look for primarily are veteran-related stories, news, celebrations, family reunions and veteran testimonies … I love those surprise homecomings! In addition to that, sometimes I look at the entries where people do “social experiments” whereby they look for people who are in dire need of a helping hand so they “test” their inner goodness even with little to give.

In the last few days, I came across one such exchange between the promoter and a lady he met at random. The gentleman always seems genuine in that once he finds a person who offers help to others when they truly have little to nothing to offer, he thanks them for caring about their fellow man and buys them food, a meal at a restaurant, groceries, baby items for their little one, gas for their car and even cash – sometimes a lot of it.

On this one segment, after he surprised a lady with his gratitude (she had bought him a sandwich thinking he really needed it), she praised the Lord then proceeded to tell him about the “gospel bird.” It was a term he had never heard before, so she explained it was when her family sat together and ate the whole bird (chicken) and how important family time together was. All their family she said came to the table to share a big dinner; they talked, laughed, and mostly just loved each other … together. I liked that story, and I really liked the term “gospel bird.”

It took me back to Sunday dinners … a time to rest over a nice sit-down meal and converse the good things we had experienced in the six days before; the worries and woes or something we fretted over and our plans for the next six days before we met again the next Sunday. There were no fancy or complicated electronics, no opportunities for ill doers to “clone” our very voices, no worries of stress in the public restroom because males who “identify” as a female might come in compromising our privacy to change clothes, or lift up our dress while changing our pantyhose in the open area (since some stalls are very small); no worries that busting our chops to achieve wins at the finish line could be “for naught” because a stronger, more muscular by nature man is now permitted to compete against us.

Not all that long ago we could go into a pharmacy in a big city and buy whatever we needed … now countless shelves are locked down, chained off or as empty as Granny’s cupboard – for that matter so are a lot of our cupboards nowadays!

As I watched much of the coverage of the honors bestowed on our WWII D-Day veterans today, I could not help but wonder what they thought about the “woke” culture, even in our military. It is all so strange to me … our cops we restrict from doing the job (a lot of times) they need to do because we might offend a robber, mugger, violent offender and we observe thievery in departments stores while folks load up the goods, destroy glass display cases, “smash and grab” and walk out the door laughing all the way to their get-away cars. Maybe I am just hard-headed and that is okay, but how do we train our military and police officers to be tough, to go to their jobs and witness horrible, heartbreaking things too often both on our streets and on the battlefield and at the same time expect them to be so cognizant and sensitive of others’ “feelings” to the point of what? It seems so “bassackwards” to me as Mama used to say.

Thank the good Lord our Normandy heroes did not stop and think twice, ask permission, call in a counselor to mediate or delay in fighting with deliberate purpose or, very possibly, we would have had no living veterans to honor today on June 6th! Our military men and women and our law enforcement today (and always) have tough decisions to make frequently in order to protect and serve – it is a shame. Is this why so many police officers have retired early? Made unexpected career changes? Is this why or military recruitment is down – way down?

Look, this is just my opinion, just my personal concerns. I have not served our country in the military; I have not witnessed and assisted firemen and paramedics and first responders at fires, suicides, murders and horrific traffic accidents. I am just plain ol’ me, but I had a husband whom I loved with all of my heart who did, brothers who did, uncles who did, and friends too. We survived in this world when things were fair … fair I said, not when a slant was allowed on the very unthinkable aspect of everyday life to appease those who found a way to push aside our daily, good life in America. Was everything always perfect? No! But we were not only “fair” and used common sense in governing our country, state, city and towns but we also were not gullible.

Life was good, life was solid. We felt safe in our country, we felt protected by our police. Our cousins played when we set off firecrackers, told jokes, played cards, or just teased and picked on each other. The electronic devices we appreciate today are or can be a really good thing if used the right way but I wish we could commit for our children (and couples) sake to set limits on the use of them after the homework was done – not at meal time – so we spent quality time with those we love. It is so important.

Our Dare County veteran service officer Patty O’Sullivan – office: 252-475-5604; cell: 252-473-7749 and email: patricia.o’sullivan@darenc.gov – asked me to please remind all our veterans to try to attend the Town of Duck 4^th of July Parade and Community Celebration on Thursday, July 4^th beginning 9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. It will be a one-mile parade route from the crest of the hill on Scarborough Lane, traveling east toward the ocean, turning left onto Ocean Way, continuing to Christopher Drive, and ending at Pamela Court. On their online flyer it notes that no part of the parade will take place on Duck Road.

If you are a veteran and you would like to drive in the parade or walk behind the Outer Banks V.F.W. Post 10950 Color Guard (who will lead the parade), please contact Patty at your earliest convenience on her contact numbers noted above. The Town of Duck annually shows immense pride in our patriotic independent spirit and no doubt the great hospitality Duck residents, business owners and visitors offer everyone will create as usual an especially nice event to enjoy! If you are interested in being a part of it, provide a float, etc., please search the Town of Duck website, see the link to read all the parade policies and guidelines and register by 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 19^th. Town of Duck, 252-255-1234.

Until next time, be healthy, safe and happy. We have much to be happy about and thank our Heavenly Father for: His blessings, and the courage and sacrifice of our WWII veterans and their families many of whom lost their precious brave loved ones 80 years ago. God bless them all and God bless all of you. If you wish to call/text me, my cell: 252-202-2058 and email: giglineheroes@aol.com. Please note GIG LINE so I will be sure to open it. I love you all! Stay tuned!

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