It looks like Christmas here!

One of many photos Mrs. AOW took on Saturday

It snowed some yesterday, and our house looks even more like Christmas!  Outside and inside!  Mrs. AOW decorated the inside last week.

This photo doesn't begin to show what all Decorate A Vet has done for us on Saturday - and before then, too.

Mrs. AOW has explained a bit more at her site.

Over 100 people were here on Saturday to bring us a Merry Christmas. I was even interviewed by two different local TV channels!  But I look like an old man in front of that camera.

Well, I am an old man!

But Saturday was a great day.  Too bad that the Decorate A Vet dinner banquet planned for yesterday had to be canceled because of the icy roads.  Maybe they'll reschedule it. The best part of Saturday was being around so many people.

From local news coverage here in the D.C. area this morning (graphic added by AOW):

Definitely a miracle!

Mustang recently posted one of the best military stories I've ever heard.

Read Marine Survives 3-mile Fall.

A miracle like that doesn't just happen!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is about our fallen heroes - not about barbecues and picnics and shopping bargains.

Observe the day with at least a few minutes of how the day should be observed!

Veterans Day 2012

Remember what today means:

Many Americans mistakenly believe that Veterans Day is the day America sets aside to honor American military personnel who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained from combat. That's not quite true. Memorial Day is the day set aside to honor America's war dead.

Veterans Day, on the other hand, honors ALL American veterans, both living and dead....

Thank a veteran today. Make a point of it.

As a veteran of the Vietnam Era, the first time that anyone thanked me for my service was in 2006. Not that I expected any thanks! I was honored to serve my nation.

Here is a video that I found over at Mrs. AOW's site:


Try to thank a Vietnam Era veteran today.

Watch This!

Worth Thinking About

Found this at FreeThinke's blog.

First item, and all the rest are just as good:

You Could Have Heard a Pin Drop

At a time when our confidence in the political process seems to be at a low ebb –– a time when our president and other politicians, apparently, feel they should apologize to the world for our country's past deeds, and abase themselves by literally bowing to foreign leaders, here's a short refresher course on how a few of our patriots handled negative criticism and insults to our country in former years.

JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 1960's when France’s President General Charles de Gaulle decided to pull out of NATO. De Gaulle said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible.

Rusk quietly asked him, "Does that include those who are buried here?"

De Gaulle did not respond.

You Could Have Heard a Pin Drop

Read the whole thing here.

June 6, 1944

As a US Army veteran, I salute all Americans who served on D-Day.

Most Americans in 1944 learned about D-Day by radio broadcast:

For Memorial Day

Hat tip to Sam Huntington:

Memorial Day is a special one for me. I am a veteran of the Vietnam Era although I was stationed stateside.

In 1968, I lost one of my best friends in the Vietnam War. We went way back as friends -- all the way to our days in 6th grade.

Danny (enlisted in the USMC) was about 20 years old and engaged at the time of his death.

Danny and I used to run a bicycle repair shop together in Southern California; his father co-signed the loan for the building for us.

I was drafted about 2 years after Danny died.

I need to go to the Vietnam War Memorial and look up Danny's name.

Great Christmas Video!

This video honors the season and our military (hat tip to Brooke):