This page is dedicated to my Mom Betty Covey 1922 - 1998 USMC WOMEN ARE VETERANS, TOO We weren't just tokens or pretty faces, to decorate your offices and platoons; we weren't dumb, too plain or too stupid to make it in the real world. We've marched your muddy roads, carried and shot your heavy guns. We've been shot at, wounded, and died, and been prisoners of war. We've been active in all services, and risen to high ranks. We've tended your bleeding wounds, and held you when you were dying. We've flown your mighty airplanes and navigated your giant ships. We've fixed your broken engines and driven heavy equipment. We've mailed letters for you, and brought you news from home. We've stood along side of you, without flinching or running away, and continue to stand by you today. We are not asking for special treatment, or that you should go out of your way. We're only asking that you recognize that women are veterans, too. by Lynda K. Dokken USMC 1966-67 Her Life Was Not as Glorious as Some, Her life was not as glorious as some, Devoted to her children and their children, Taken up by quiet tedium: What's left when dreams are scattered to the wind. She loved too well, perhaps, and fought too hard To make a marriage work that wasn't right. She was, of all bright loveliness, a shard Struck off to bring our lives the gift of light. There are those whose lives are shaped by love; Whose pleasures, rich and full, are found in giving; Who make our wild hearts bloom and passions move Into measured fields made lush by living. Without her all the gold's gone from the day; She will be missed far more than we can say. © Nicholas Gordon Mom How much I love you I can't say: It's more than words can hold. You're all at once my rich, red clay, My potter and my mold. Yours the words that shaped my voice, The spirit within mine. Yours the will that shaped my choice, My fortune, and my sign. How lucky I was to have had you At the core of me! Wise and good, you always knew Just what I could be. And so I came to be someone Whom I could be proud of. For this I give my swollen sum Of gratitude and love. ©Nicholas Gordon Thank You Veterans.... Thank You Mom....