By Ron Scheevel
Preston, MN
As Veterans Day has passed for another year, this Old Soldier has a lot of thank yous to convey. As I had the privilege of partic-ipating in several programs, I must thank all those that helped make Veterans Day very meaningful to me.
I’ll start with the administrators, teachers and staff at both Harmony and Preston schools. In addition, the band, choirs and student readers were awesome. We, the Veterans were very impressed with our Patriot Pen and Voice of Democracy winners. In addition, our keynote speaker, Mr. Rob Gross, administrator of State Veterans Cemetery did a superb job with his presentations. Also, thanks to all veterans and Auxiliary members that participated. If I’ve missed anyone, I sincerely apologize.
We, as an aging group of Veterans, must continue to focus our efforts on our students, as to the service and sacrifice of our military and veterans.
Only those who have served and their immediate family can begin to understand the sacrifice these young men and women make.
As I was recently asked to speak before the residents at the new veterans home in Preston, I said yes immediately. What an honor. I am extremely honored to have had this opportunity.
As I stood before those residents, I was immensely humbled to speak to this group of heroes. As we later had coffee and cake with this group, I asked several how they liked the facility and care they were receiving. The universal answer was “great, very good,” etc. It was assuring to this Old Soldier that the residents are being well cared for. As I observed the demeanor and attitude of the staff, it appears to me that atmosphere and environment at the Home is very positive and upbeat. What a great place for our comrades to call home!
As our election is also now behind us, I hope our elected officials will get down to work for the betterment of our great nation.
Of the many problems before us, I think the biggest issue is our national debt. Standing at nearly $36 trillion, the government is borrowing $700-$800 billion a quarter just to continue. If anyone out there can explain how this is sustainable, please explain how it can continue. In my mind it will take reductions in spending along with curbing wasteful expenditures in all government agencies. If something isn’t done very soon, it may be too late to salvage this economy. This is not a Republican or Democrat problem. It is bipartisan and will take compromise by both to fix it.
Enough for now. God Bless our Veterans, God Bless the U.S.A.
The Old Soldier,
Ron Scheevel
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