Dale Weir

The young women of today, so cocky and sure of themselves, sometimes forget that they owe their ability to be so sure of themselves to all of the wonderful women warriors who came before them. The women who took over when their husbands, fathers and brothers went off to war and managed the family farms and businesses and kept our economy going. We all owe a debt to these women, some went back to their old routines after the war ended, but many had to keep going in their new roles because the men never came home, or if they came home, they came home wounded and unable to work the farm or in the factory.

Then there were the women who followed the men to war. They became the nurses, the ambulance drivers, the pilots and mechanics. Some learned how to manage the military supply and admin systems and keep things running. They have some fascinating stories when you stop and listen to them.

Take a few minutes and stop and talk to a woman who was the nurse anesthesiologist at the battle of the bulge, or the nurses who were captured and held prisoner during the war. Talk to the ones who left home to serve their country with high hopes of seeing the world, then never got stationed more than 100 miles away from home. Give yourself an hour to talk to the ones who sat at the Nuremburg trials taking dictation, or the ones who were among the first pilots and assigned to ferry aircraft to the men (but who weren't recognized and given credit for it until over 40 years later). Spend some time with the women who were the first in ROTC or the Academies, and discuss how they were treated both there and when they entered active duty. Then talk to the ones who went from being the Women's Air Force and the Women's Army Corp to being accepted into THE Air Force and THE Army.

We are the past, We are the future. Our cockiness and sureness caused us to break all the rules. Many suffered the consequences. Many hit the glass ceiling, but we pushed on and we pushed our sisters through, so that today's young women can do so much more. If you want to talk to the women, if you want to hear their stories, they out there - The Women's Memorial in DC is collecting them along with several other of the National Museums under a special project trying to preserve the memories for future generations. But it's much nicer to hear the stories in person. Take a Veteran out to lunch and ask them about their time in the service. You'll be surprised when you hear the stories they have to tell.

You'll hear about cleaning the grease pits and swabbing decks. You'll hear about midnight raids and long hours of bordom, and times of sheer terror, but you'll also hear about working with people from all over the US and the world. You'll hear about a world that opened the doors to education and housing and opportunities. And you'll hear about trust and faith and working together for a common goal.

Take a Vet to lunch and spend some time talking to them. You'll be glad you did.

I'm the Past Commander of the only All Women's American Legion Post in the State of Missouri, American Legion Post 404 in St Louis. We have some wonderful members, from WWII to women on Active Duty now.

Dale

A quick and dirty list of freebies that I've compiled for the veterans in my area:

Applebees is giving free meals to anyone that is active duty or a veteran (show a military, retiree or service organization ID card) on Veterans Day. They have 6 meals to chose from - a steak, a large salad, a bacon cheeseburger, a pasta dish, a chicken dish and a chicken fingers dish.

UNO's has buy one get one free meals with an ID card or a picture of you in uniform on Veterans Day

Golden Corral Steak House is giving free meals to veterans with ID cards on Veterans Day

McAlister's Deli always gives a discount to Veterans, military and their dependents with an ID card

Lowe's Hardware Stores always give discounts (10%) to veterans, military and their dependents with an ID card

Home Depot Store give discounts (10%) to Veterans, Military and their dependents on patriotic holidays with an ID card

Hair Saloon Barbershops give free haircuts on Patriotic Holidays with an ID card to veterans and military (couldn't find any free haircuts or beauty shop services for the female veterans though)

Krispie Kreme Doughnuts give a free doughnut on Veterans Day with an ID card to veterans and military

Outback Steakhouse gives a free Bloomin Onion and beverage to military and vets on Veterans Day with an ID card

Sam's Club gives away free canes to Veterans and military members (but the number of canes is limited) - you don't have to be a member to get one)

U.S. Department of Interior – All of the areas managed by the DOI is offering free admission to any and everyone on Veterans Day. This includes all national parks, forests, and monuments.

i'm sure that there are more, but those were the ones I could compile for my area - anyone have something to add to the list?

I'm a Past Commander of the Only All Women's American Legion Post in the State of Missouri - if you want to see Veterans in action, check out Post 404 some time.

Dale

Well, we're over a month into the highway 40/64 shutdown and so far things are going well. We ahaven't seen any of the major debacles that they predicted and the traffic seems to be moving fairly smoothly. My husband fights the traffic on a daily basis and while he's had to change his route, it really hasn't lengthened his day any. When I'm out showing property, I just plan my route ahead of time to ensure that we can get to all the homes my clients want to see without issues. I think the biggest challenges have been to the businesses and homeowners with construction on their doorsteps. It has changed where people shop.

The recent bad weather was a test of the shutdown, since the concerns were that emergency vehicles wouldn't be able to get through, but that hasn't been a problem. Have you had any issues with the shutdown?