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Hey anyone else gonna be in a parade ?

My wife and I are drivin' the M and towin' the M101 tomorrow. Should be fun.

been cleanin' and polishin' and checkin' fluids and greasin' and gassin' up OH Ya...

No parade here, but I'm going to attend a special program for veterans put on by the students at the local high school at 0800, participate in a joint commemmoration ceremony between the Legion and the VFW at 1100, and speak of my military experience at the local cultural center at 1800. I will sleep well tomorrow night!

Lifer? What, you are going to participate in a joint with the high school kids? Dude, dont do it on the school premises, thats a felony!
Seriously though, have a great day tomorrow!
Tim

All Right Lifer!! A mighty full day .
Let us know how it goes.

Hope all had a fine Veteran's Day.
Say, shouldn't our Veteran's get the day off with pay instead of bankers and government employees?

Rick,Lifer, how did your events go?

After Action Report

As I mentioned above, I had a full day outlined for Veterans Day.

My day began with an assembly at the local high school, to which area veterans were invited. We had special seating arranged for us at one end of the gym floor while the band occupied the other end, leaving center court open for the various displays. Attendance was great! Student attendance was 100%, of course. They expected about 20 veterans to show up. They got 47 of us! The band's trumpeter played "To the Colors" as the colors were advanced and all veterans present came to attention. The band then played the National Anthem as the colors were posted and the veterans rendered the proper miliitary salute while the civilians performed the civilian hand-over-the-heart salute.

Following the opening ceremonies, members of the ROTC unit came out one at a time in uniforms representing every war we've ever been involved in and attached battle streamers for each to the Company flag. After they retired from the floor, the band played a medley of the service songs as the service flags were presented by other ROTC cadets. We were asked to stand as our service song was played.

This was followed by the not-to-be-forgotten "speechifying" by the school Principal, the ROTC instructor, and the city mayor.

When all were finished speaking, we were treated to lots of hand-shaking and "thank you for serving" from the crowd. I got a few hugs from some of the female students, and even got kissed by one girl, a mother, and a teacher!

After finishing up at the high school, I managed to get a short coffee break at Hardee's (free!) before heading off to Veterans Park for the Legion/VFW ceremony at 1100 hours. This was a relatively short ceremony. We formed up in two columns (one Legion and one VFW) and rendered the salute as the VFW Auxiliary placed a wreath at the base of the flagpole and a very talented young lady sang the national anthem a capella.

That ceremony completed, I had time to go home and take a nap before the last event.

At 1800 hours, several other Legionnaires and I attended a special Veterans Day meeting of the NAACP, to which all veterans had been invited. Again, turnout was great. Our vice commander was the Master of Ceremonies, out chaplain did the opening and closing prayers, our commander spoke about the history of Veterans Day, our service officer spoke about veterans benefits and how to apply for them, and I spoke about the "military experience." One of the local attorneys spoke about how the armed forces were in the vanguard of desegregation, being the first to officially ban separation of the races. He talked for quite a while, and spoke so well that it was evident to me that he had lots of courtroom experience.

By the time we all finished talking, shaking hands, etc., it was almost bedtime before I got home. I got out of uniform and fell into bed, very tired, but very satisfied with my day.

Glad to hear about your day Lifer and that you enjoyed it so much.

The Parade went well here in Tucson. I had the only M37. Mostly Jeeps in our group and a 42 wla Harley. Great day for all of us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U2hB-Pz4zs

"ALL GAVE SOME, AND SOME GAVE ALL"... IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, NO MAN STANDS HIGHER THAN THAT WHO ANSWERS THE CALL OF HIS HOMELAND TO SERVE THE FLAG AND WHAT THAT STANDS FOR. YET IT SEEMS THAT THESE DAYS PEOPLE GET OFFENDED BY THE FLAG IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY. THIS LITTLE KID ON THE LINK RODE HIS FLAG DECORATED BIKE TO SCHOOL AND WAS TOLD NOT TO DO IT AGAIN, BECAUSE CERTAIN PEOPLE GOT "OFFENDED." I WONDER IF THOSE "PEOPLE" HAD ANYTHING BAD TO SAY ABOUT THE FLAG TO THOSE BIKERS (MANY OF THEM VETERANS) THAT ESCORTED THE KID THE NEXT DAY. ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, A YOUNG AMERICAN GOT AWARDED THE MEDAL OF HONOR (THE FIRST LIVING SOLDIER SINCE VIETNAM) FOR LITERALY JUMPING IN FRONT OF THE LINE OF FIRE TO SAVE WOUNDED SOLDIERS FROM THE ENEMY'S HANDS IN AFGANISTAN. I WONDER IF SOMEONE WOULD TELL THIS MAN "I AM OFFENDED BY THE FLAG ON YOUR CAR". BUT THEN AGAIN, LEAVE IT TO A LAWYER, AND HE MAY PROVE IT ILLEGAL TO PRESENT A FLAG. AND UNFORTUNATTELY THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL OBSERVATION ABOUT THE FLAGS.

I watched the Medal of Honor presentation on CNN this morning. It was a rare opportunity to see a true Hero get recognized. Even though I am a Canadian it was easy to be proud of this young man in the recognition of his service to his country. I'm encouraged to know that there are men of his caliber fighting along side our own troops in Afganistan. I particularly enjoyed the quote by Audie Murphy used the in presentation to describe the reason behind his brave actions, "because they were shooting my friends". Seems like a good enough reason to me...

I was particularly touched when he said he would give it all back to have his buddies back.