I'll honor my second cousin William R Godrey. He was drafted into the Army in 1968 and soon attained the rank of Sargeant. He was awarded a Silver Star during his short time of service in Vietnam.

Billy died in Binh Long Provicnce of Vietnam in October 1969 when his helicopter crashed. I only remember meeting him once - it's one of my earliest memories in life - I met him at his own funeral and remember how the flag was drapped over his casket and his picture was proudly displayed on top.

You can find information about those who died in Vietnam here:

http://thewall-usa .com

I could get the sniffles here as I've had a military family member die this week, but I will share one of those smile moments.

My Poppaw was in the Navy in WWII. When he passed, my oldest son was around 4 years old. He'd never been to a funeral, so I thought I should explain about the gun salute.

My kid was very serious as I told him about his Poppaw's burial service and how Poppaw would be honored with the 21 gun salute at the service. The kid hung on every word, and I felt good that I could share this special meaning of a military service with him.

I did ask if the little had any questions.

"Who they going to shoot at?" he asked.

It was a sad time, but I must confess that I almost had to laugh at the very idea that the honor guard would take out more family at this hard time. I did assure him that the shots would go in the air. I guess kids watch too much TV these days.

My Uncle Eddie fought in WW2 in Italy. I feel bad that I didn't even know that about him until he died late last month and the Army was there to present the flag to his son.  I was OK for the whole funeral until I was walking out and saw the three Army guys there with and they started to fold the flag.  I was standing with my 9 year old nephew in front of me and I think I squeezed him so hard that I smooshed his little liver.  It was one of the most moving things I've ever seen.  RIP Uncle Eddie.

I honor my Dad and my husband.

My Dad served in the Korean, as well as the Viet Nam War.  He was in military intelligence and worked as a civilian with the Chinese during the Viet Nam War.  I had to wait 25 years before his work was declassified to find out about his mission there. Amazing stuff.

My husband got the Bronze Star for his service in Viet Nam.  He also was in military intelligence.  While serving, he was able to intercept and decode enemy transmissions. His decoding of their communications saved thousands of American lives.

I honor them both for their bravery and for their patriotism.

My Uncle Jerry died a couple years ago. He was in the Army in Italy during WWII, but never talked much about the actual war. He loved to talk about meeting the Pope in Rome, however... and this was a Jewish kid from Brooklyn!

My wife's Uncle Jack also died a couple years ago. Jack was an officer, so I always assumed he had a relatively cushy life as a soldier. Then, after he died, I read a battle diary written by another soldier in the same unit (the 100th Division, also called the "Century" Division) and discovered that Jack was an artillery officer in France and Germany for some of the hardest fighting of the war. He was awarded a Bronze Star, and I'm pretty sure he really did "earn" it.

--Bob (who was in the Army from 1971 to 1974)

Thanks for starting this Meredith.  It's always appreciated when people take the time to actually remember what our vets did and still do for this country.

First and foremost I will always honor the service my husband put in.  Though many of his jobs were not combat related they were still very important.  Hey someone has to make sure the guys have all their weapons in good working order.

Also I would like to honor a hubby of one of our own Viewpointers this2shallpass.  If I'm remembering correctly he is off to officer school right now.

Thank you lilsquibb!  That was very nice of you to mention my husband! 

Yes, my husband has been a United States Marine for 6 years now.  Right now he is away in Quantico, VA at Officer Boot Camp where he will be for almost two months.

I would first like to thank my husband for having the strength and courage to join the USMC to support us and our country.  I am so proud of you!  Second, I would like to thank ALL military service members no matter what your job is.  Everyone's job is integral to the functioning of our Defense Department, and you all should be proud!