Honor and Gratitude II

I know I said, last time, that we would visit Louisiana today, but I just got this great news and wanted to share it with you.
 

Some of you are aware that I was honored to be a small part of a documentary that was made by MCTV (Montgomery College TV) by Barbara Grunbaum and Dan Rankin.

This film was part of an overall Montgomery County, Maryland celebration and recognition of the County's thousands of Vietnam veteran.

A welcome home was held at the Universities of Shady Grove and among the presentations were clips from the upcoming film. There was a motorcycle rally and many distinguished speakers, including Bob Schieffer (CBS News) as the Master of Ceremonies. The five living POW's from the County were present and were honored, too. Sadly one of them, Mr. Fred Cherry, has passed away since the event. I was told that this event was the first time since their return from North Vietnam that these five men had been in the same room together! Another was Everett Alvarez, the first U.S. pilot shot down and the longest resident of the infamous Hanoi Hilton. It was an honor to meet them all.

A few months later, the film was previewed for the vets involved and the general public at Montgomery College in Silver Spring. Most of those featured in the film were present and participated in a Q and A after the showing. It was truly a wonderful and remarkable day.

So, later the film was entered in contest sponsored by NATOA (National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors and was chosen as one of the three top films of the year for Excellence in Broadcasting. We did not know its rank in the top three until much later, after the awards ceremony.

Now, I couldn't be more proud to tell you that it was selected as the best film of the year.

If you are interested, you can view it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3OAnvShg-0&feature=youtu.be

I want to take just one more opportunity to thank Barbara, Dan and everyone involved for their tireless work, respect, and unflagging dedication to telling this story and to congratulate them on their well deserved win at the NATOA, you have honored us all.

Next time on the 30th, we will visit Louisiana, so, as always join me there at 9:00am.

To see Vietnam memorials from every state in the union, click a state name on the left side of this page.

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.