2008 Tribute to Veterans

Everyone is traveling today or this weekend, so first and foremost - be safe on those highways! Sunday is Rolling Thunder day in our nation's capitol. Veterans and/or their children will be riding their Harleys through the streets of Washington, D.C. The air will be filled with the sound of "rolling thunder" like the sound of cannons firing non-stop in years gone by. Vets, family, friends, patriots all - will crowd the Mall, visit the monuments for the Korean War, WWII, WWI, the Nurses who served in Vietnam. And people will stand and look through the pages of the names listed in the books protected under glass to find the placement of the name of a fallen comrade, a brother-at-arms, before turning to walk to The Wall - that black granite memorial where over 54,000 names are engraved in columns; names of the men who fought and died in Vietnam. Thousands of motorcycles will be parked at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial - only 20,000 or so are allowed to ride in Rolling Thunder - and veterans will mill about buying mementos recalling the past and bringing those memories into the present to be honored today and in the future. Honor our military in your own humble way - and even if you are so misguided as to despise them - give a moment of thanks that they don't despise you, give a moment of thanks that they stand on that wall, that they fight and die for your right to the very freedoms that allow you to demonstrate against them, to destroy their recruitment centers, and to desecrate their funerals. They - our military - are the men and women who stand the posts and say, "You are safe. Nobody's gonna hurt you tonight, not on my watch." (A Few Good Men) Members of my family have served in every war our nation has fought on this continent, even before we became a nation - the honor and respect for military men and women and their sacrifice runs deep in my veins. To our military and their families: Ooh-rah! and Semper Fi! Thank you and God Bless you...