Honor and Gratitude

My home county declared 2015 the Year of the Veteran and their Families. I wrote before about the Welcome Home for Vietnam vets that was held last fall and in conjunction with all of this the county asked Emmy winning film makers Barbara Grunbaum and Dan Rankin to create and produce a documentary about 'Nam vets from the county. Dan explained from the very beginning that their interest was to not talk to the usual suspects but to tell the stories of those whose boots were actually on the ground, those doing the everyday work, those actually fighting the war.

Through circumstances I can't really explain, I was asked to be among those interviewed. In total there were 7 of us who ranged from the very first resident of the infamous Hanoi Hilton, to an Army nurse who was later characterized in the TV show about Army nurses called China Beach, to my buddy who actually pushed Ron Kovic ( Born on the 4th of July) down Pennsylvania Ave. in his wheelchair to demonstrate against the war at the Nixon White House and several more, including me. The intent was to illuminate what our particular experiences in-country were, what is was like coming home and how we might have been affected as we moved through the rest of our lives. It achieves these in remarkable fashion and we were all blown away by the job Barbara and Dan and all those who assisted them were able to do. I was humbled to sit among these heroes and am not sure I actually belonged there. However, I was and that presents this opportunity to share the film with you. (Maybe that's why I was there)

Honor and Gratitude was premiered on March 23rd, so it is brand new and you will be among the very first to get to see it in its entirety. I hope you will take the time, it does take about an hour, and that you will let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you.

So, it is a great honor and privilege to share Honor and Gratitude with you. Enjoy!

I've had a little trouble getting this to start, if you do, you can see it here, too.

 https://youtu.be/p3OAnvShg-0


Next time, on the 10th, check out a new site from Florida. See it at 9:00am, as always.

To see memorials from any state, click on the state name on the left side of this page.