Friday Photo: Tribute

It’s never inappropriate to take another look at such things, is it? Hope you don’t mind my sharing. You can see the other photos from our town’s ceremony here. The Marine, Sergeant Earnest, who spoke that morning was awesome (redundant, I know, since he’s a Marine…).

Remembrance and Honour

The wreath-laying ceremony at our town’s community and city center. We live in a fairly small community between Pittsburgh and Ohio, so it made me quite happy to see a very nice turnout this morning, considering the fact that most folks were at work!

The memorial plaza as well as the sidewalks across the street were fairly full of people, mostly older, but there were some people my parents’ age, quite a few of whom brought their children. Most of my contemporaries were in uniform (for the record, the military declined me due to health issues), but there were a couple of us nonetheless. Again, for such a small town…it was nice to see, especially all the vets who’d gathered!

The wreaths remain at the memorial throughout the year, until the next Veteran’s Day. This is right on our main street, so everyone who goes through sees it. I’ll bet the horsemen heading to Mountaineer appreciate it, as they tend to be a very patriotic group.

By the way, the last known living American to serve in World War I, Frank Buckles, lives a ways south of us in Charles Town. Having enlisted in the Army at the age of 16, he is now 108.

I hope you were all able to say ‘thank you’ to at least one vet today—but if not, it’s all right, because there are 364 other days we can do so every year! Though it made me nervous to do so at first, now being able to shake the hand of one of these heroes and say thanks becomes the highlight of my day when it happens, be it at the supermarket, church, or wherever. So please, PLEASE tell them how much you appreciate them when you see them, especially our World War II vets, so many of whom leave us daily now.

And if you are a vet…THANK YOU. *You* are our heroes. Thanks can never be enough, but…it’s terribly heartfelt. God bless you, because we love you.