Folks,
When I came in this morning three out of the first four people I saw in the cafeteria were veterans. It came up as we were talking about Veterans Day, light traffic, etc.
I had heard on the radio this morning that only about 1 percent of the U.S. population are veterans, so my experience this morning may not be typical. I am not a veteran (high draft lottery number and low numbers called up after I left high school near the end of the Vietnam War). Part of me always wishes that I had served, but it was never enough to make me volunteer.
But it does make me especially thankful and respectful of those who do serve, and that includes a lot of our colleagues. So I hope you have a chance to talk to some of them today, and thank them for serving.
Speaking of veterans, I hope you had a chance to read (and see on the web) Luis Sinco's amazing account of the GI he photographed who became the "Marlboro Marine" as Luis's photo of him traveled around the world. The account of the soldier's experiences since is a powerful story and a great way to record and remember Veterans Day. Marlboro Marine story/video
Also you might check my blog to see a letter that came in about Luis's story from another newspaper person outside The Times: http://blogger.latimes.com/David-Hiller/
David
Mr. Hiller,
ReplyDeleteThank you for running the multimedia piece by Luis Sinco. It's exceptional, and I think more pieces like this are definitely the path the LA Times has to take.
Today, I went to a local Veterans Day ceremony. I stood amid a slowly fading contingent of WWII, Korean War vets as well as Vietnam, Desert Storm and present day.
But what struck me most is how few of the local neighborhood people turned up. It seems our appreciation for the armed forces is lagging. I think that although people say "support the troops," it's just not a popular thing to go to these ceremonies.
Anyway, thank you for your thoughts. I hope you'll join me, Ed and Nubia in helping to raise money for the National Military Family Association's Operation Purple program, which sends military kids to summer camp for free.