♫Eddie Bruce♫

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the United States when men were free.” ************************************************************ ************************************************************ **** UNDER THE LEATHER AND BEHIND THE SHADES ************************************************************ **Under the leather and behind the shades stands a biker. We ride for the sense of freedom it gives us. The encouragement to take the road less traveled in the chance that we may encounter something new. We ride for the friendships we make along the way, as well as, the solitude of the open road. We don’t really care what you ride, just that you do. Under the leather and behind the shades is a beating heart. A heart filled with compassion that on any given day will be riding for those in need. Ask one of us for help, but don’t be surprised when all of us show up. Under the leather and behind the shades stands a proud American. We are as diverse a group of people that you could possibly assemble. We are men, women, tradesmen, doctors, lawyers, retirees, civilians, and on and on and on. We stand silently with reverence and one voice that, in the silence, can be overwhelming. Under the leather and behind the shades stands an invited guest to the funeral of a soldier that we have most likely never met. We hold the flag of our nation as a tribute to the greatest sacrifice anyone can make. Out of respect for the fallen, we travel to stand firm for a family, a community and a nation to lean on. Under the leather and behind the shades stands a biker with sons, daughters, brothers and sisters of our own. Beneath the rough exterior we tremble and weep at your loss. You may not see that, for we are there to support you. That’s why we stand so silently under the leather and behind the shades. ************************************************************ ** AUTHOR UNKNOWNTHE VETERAN ************************************************************ Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking. ************************************************************ What Is A Vet? ************************************************************ He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery in combat.**She is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.**He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL.**He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.**He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.**He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.**He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket, palsied now and aggravatingly slow, who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.**He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being. A person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.**He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.**So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.**Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU."