SATURDAY MAY 21 UNITED STATES CELEBRATES ARMED FORCES DAY

We you are out and about on Saturday please if you see a veteran or one of our active duty folks, National Guard, or Reservist, a simple thank you goes along way.

To all my fellow Veterans and those now serving, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE :fireworks4:

I myself had the HONOR of celebrating Armed Forces day celebration with 33 WWII Veterans downtown today. 5 of which were women. Very moving and I was able to get a welcome home coin for each one of them. I was doing pretty good until I handed a gentleman one and said welcome home, he looked at me with a tear in his eye and told me that "this is the first time I have ever gotten anything for being a Veteran" Very moving ceremony.

BRAVO ZULU navycpo! I have not had the honor of addressing any WWII vets aside from those in my own family much less in any sort of a formal ceremony, I have to believe that your experience was very moving! If it didn't mean anything to you then it would be easy to say a few canned words and gloss over the importance of these veteran's service.

I encourage everyone to get their flags ready to display tomorrow (weather permitting), make a donation to the USO and the VFW if you are able. Take a moment to reflect on what a remarkable job our veterans have done in defense of our nation and reflect on where we might be without there devotion and sacrifices. Show your support for those who have served and are serving to defend our nation and way of life!

for Armed Forces Day I changed my avatar to a young Marine.
Place = Rockpile Republic of Vietnam
N 16 46.414 E106 51.103

My dad was a pilot in WWII. Through a partnership with Southwest Airlines and some donors in the DFW area, they are doing something called "Honor Flights". They bring a crew of the WWII guys to the airport, do a ceremony at the gate and a continental breakfast, then fly them, (and their guardians/escorts) to Washington, DC, and spend two days giving them tours of the WWII memorial, Arlington Cemetery, Walter Reed Hospital, the Smithsonian (and the Constitution & Declaration documents, etc.), with a banquet at the end of the first night. Then fly them back and serve them a nice meal on the plane on the way back.

He just got back last Wednesday, and he was thrilled to have been able to go. I understand that on his particular flight they had somewhere between 60-75 vets, and about an equal number of guardians. (He said about 40-50% had to deal with wheelchairs, so it must have been quite a logistical challenge for the airlines, buses and transportation people.)

You have to hand it to Southwest for putting together such a program.

"The History of Honor Flight
The inaugural Honor Flight took place in May of 2005. Six small planes flew out of Springfield, Ohio taking twelve World War II veterans on a visit to the memorial in Washington, DC. In August of 2005, an ever-expanding waiting list of veterans led our transition to commercial airline carriers with the goal of accommodating as many veterans as possible. Partnering with HonorAir in Hendersonville, North Carolina, we formed the "Honor Flight Network." Today, we continue working aggressively to expand our programs to other cities across the nation.

How a Dream Became a Reality."...........................

http://www.honorflight.org/about/index.cfm

LadyJazzer wrote: My dad was a pilot in WWII. Through a partnership with Southwest Airlines and some donors in the DFW area, they are doing something called "Honor Flights". They bring a crew of the WWII guys to the airport, do a ceremony at the gate and a continental breakfast, then fly them, (and their guardians/escorts) to Washington, DC, and spend two days giving them tours of the WWII memorial, Arlington Cemetery, Walter Reed Hospital, the Smithsonian (and the Constitution & Declaration documents, etc.), with a banquet at the end of the first night. Then fly them back and serve them a nice meal on the plane on the way back.

He just got back last Wednesday, and he was thrilled to have been able to go. I understand that on his particular flight they had somewhere between 60-75 vets, and about an equal number of guardians. (He said about 40-50% had to deal with wheelchairs, so it must have been quite a logistical challenge for the airlines, buses and transportation people.)

You have to hand it to Southwest for putting together such a program.

Spending an hour or 2 depending on the connection, with my Daughter in-law over in Afghanistan. She is so precious and what a job she is doing right now! She is hanging with the Rangers, she interrogates the women there. Her friend was sent home last week, she was hit with an ied and is doing better she had a close call and it was very hard for my daughter in-law seeing what happened right in front of her. I value every minute I spend with her online and hope she comes home sooner than September. GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES!!!

By the way this is a picture of her in full garb! She's my Hero!

She's everyone's hero! Bless her for serving.

LadyJazzer wrote: My dad was a pilot in WWII. Through a partnership with Southwest Airlines and some donors in the DFW area, they are doing something called "Honor Flights". They bring a crew of the WWII guys to the airport, do a ceremony at the gate and a continental breakfast, then fly them, (and their guardians/escorts) to Washington, DC, and spend two days giving them tours of the WWII memorial, Arlington Cemetery, Walter Reed Hospital, the Smithsonian (and the Constitution & Declaration documents, etc.), with a banquet at the end of the first night. Then fly them back and serve them a nice meal on the plane on the way back.

He just got back last Wednesday, and he was thrilled to have been able to go. I understand that on his particular flight they had somewhere between 60-75 vets, and about an equal number of guardians. (He said about 40-50% had to deal with wheelchairs, so it must have been quite a logistical challenge for the airlines, buses and transportation people.)

You have to hand it to Southwest for putting together such a program.

Honor Flights have grown big time. They have them going from alot of places now. We were able to send one of our own WWII Vets from our VFW Post. That was year before last. He passed away couple of months ago. When he came back, he was speechless. He was one of about 40 that went. That got back around 1am, and we were there to take him home. HONOR FLIGHTS are the best thing going.