Thank you veterans and veterans’ families

I come from a long line of people who served our country. My father (on the left), served in the Vietnam War, as did my grandfather (WWII), and my great-grandfather (WWI). My uncle served, and a cousin is currently in the military.

I can’t yet prove that I’m related, but I found someone who is probably an ancestor in the military rolls of the revolutionary war.

Today, on Veteran’s Day, I am thankful for all the sacrifices that my forefathers made to help make our country free.

But I also think about the sacrifices our family made. My dad was in the military when I was born. His dad was in the military when he was born. And so was my dad’s dad. God bless my foremothers.

And then there’s the affect of war on those families.

Author Christal Presley‘s new book, Thirty Days with My Father: Finding Peace from Wartime PTSD, tells the devastating effects the Vietnam War had on her family. As her website says, “this memoir reveals how one daughter and her soldier-dad faced their demons of post-war trauma in a series of thirty-day conversations.”

I haven’t yet read the book, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to, since her story so closely mirrors mine. I applaud her courage in writing the book, and for putting it in the world, and for shining a light on a dark place you may not have ever considered: the cost of war reaches far beyond the men and women in the military. It touches their families as well.

Someday, I hope to write a family memoir about this, but for now, I just contemplate the story, and how it has shaped me.

This veteran’s day, absolutely thank a vet, but thank their loved ones too.