Veterans Day in The Great Northwest...

Each year on Veterans Day, headed up by retired military veterans Fred Murphy (Director of Maintenance) and Roger Burton (Chief of the security staff) and Jose Morlett (DRACO), the staff of the Great Northwest Community Improvement Association puts together a ceremony honoring those that have served.

What I have learned since retiring from the military is, not all employers offer Veteran's Day as a day off, so I just haven't been a regular at these events. Today I took the day off from work and was extremely pleased to join the audience for this moving and enjoyable ceremony. And honestly, we could not have asked for a better day with this Chamber of Commerce-like weather.
Soon to be retired Lt Col Brian Stives MC'd the event. Joining him to provide the invocation, Irwin Loud, Jr, LTC Retired, and to provide the keynote address, Ralph L. Kuster, Jr, Col Retired.
We were entertained with several wonderful musical selections from the Timberwilde School Choir. In addition to singing quite well for a young group, the kids were wonderfully well behaved considering the sun bearing down upon them.
Col Kuster, a former F-105 fighter/bomber pilot with 110 combat missions over North Vietnam and unfortunately, one sortie that didn't make it back to base, told a story of how he never fully understood the significance of Veteran's Day (or Armistice Day as it was called when he was a child). He had watched the parades and later as a Boy Scout, proudly marched in those parades. As a member of the military, he participated in parades and began to fell like part of the team. But Col Kuster explained to the assembled crowd and the attentive students, in 1967 he was shot down behind enemy lines. Luckily for him, he was picked up by Air Force ParaJumpers as his fellow pilots circled above him to secure the area. But many of his fellow servicemen were not as lucky and they spent time as prisoners of war. It was this that finally made him understand the deep pride that those who had served before him felt.
Following the stirring speech, and as Taps and Echo was performed by Warren High student Daniel Flores and retired MSgt Keith Kolars, several veterans put wreaths at the base of flags in the Great Northwest's memorial to those who have served.
Following the ceremony, attendees were invited to enjoy refreshments inside the lodge of the Great Northwest where staff served up cake and such.
I hope that for many of you, this was not just a day off, but at least worth a few moments of reflection and thanks for those that have and continue to serve.

Arts & Crafts Report: The Military Wreath...

My wife had seen an advertisement from the USO and got the idea to convert a bunch of leftover ribbons and patches and stuff that I had tucked away in an old Ziplock bag into something festive for the holiday season. And why not do it close to Veterans Day?

So, if you have someone who has served who you would like to remember in a festive way, try this:

Silver Creek: Serving Proudly

Just by driving through Silver Creek, you recognize from the reflective decals and assortment of bumper stickers that we have a rather well represented community of active duty and retired military families, and the proud parents of the next generation of people who serve in the greatest military the world has ever known. Today, my family entered the third generation of service to the U.S. Air Force as we attended the graduation ceremony of our daughter.

Thursday, we observed a special retreat ceremony and I found myself a bit choked up watching my daughter and her fellow airmen belt out the Air Force Song. And during today’s ceremony, the pass in review, it was a proud moment to see my daughter and her flight do the “eyes right” just as I did 25 years ago and quite probably on the same parade field that my father did 60 years ago.

Following the graduation ceremony, we accompanied our new Airman 1^st Class to her dorm to see where she had spent the last six weeks and to meet her Military Training Instructor. You cannot help being impressed by the sharp and extremely professional people who take, for the most part, obnoxious teenagers (even the one’s who are already parents themselves in some cases) and turn them into respectful, eager and newly motivated warriors. I like to think that my own daughter was pretty sharp and mature for her almost 19 years, but seeing her now was nothing short of impressive.
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Silver Creek usually has a yearly ceremony to honor veterans and POW’s and I’m very pleased as a resident and a veteran myself, that the community I live in makes this a priority among the many other important activities they sponsor.