I’m not able join you on the march on Washington on 9/12 because I have commitments here at home. However, I would like to ask that anyone going as part of the 9/12 project please share this with anyone outside the central Ohio 9/12 group that is planning to go.

On Saturday, 9/12, there will be a group of veterans in DC from Ohio, New York, Colorado, Alabama, Florida and perhaps other places as well. These aren’t just any vets, they’re World War II veterans. Honor Flight, at no cost to the vets, flies them to DC for the day so that they can visit the World War II memorial and a few other sites. Most have never had the chance to see the memorial built in their honor, and this is their only opportunity. I’m not here to promote Honor Flight, as worthy an organization as I believe it is.

I’m writing you because in my discussions with the flight organizers, they’re aware of the march on Washington and while I don’t speak for them, I think it would be fair to say they’re a little bit concerned about the crowds and maybe even a bit skittish about the idea of “protesters” running amuck. My and the flight directors’, guardians’, and ground crews’ only mission and concern is for the vets under our care. I know quite a few of you, and know that of anyone, you are the most willing of any crowd – without a thought – to stand and honor the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, to call them heroes. You are also the least likely of any large group I know to be obnoxious or disrespectful to our country.

I believe I can speak for the 9/12 group when I say the whole reason for the march is not because we believe that America is a bad place and needs radical change, or that we think this latest president is a bad man. We believe our liberty is under attack from years of an ever-growing, ever-consuming, increasingly oppressive, and unbounded federal government who would burn the Constitution if they could figure out how to get Sandy Berger to smuggle it out of the archives. Yelling at the TV hasn’t worked. Bold questions, protests, and marches are absolutely our right and if necessary, our responsibility, to ensure the Constitution and our liberty is preserved for future generations.

However. Your path as a group, or perhaps your personal path, will almost certainly at some point intersect with Honor Flight, perhaps at the airports or during your march, as the World War II memorial is directly between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol building. (Map: http://tinyurl.com/lwl3jb) Please, as you’re in Washington, if you see an old guy in a gray t-shirt (picture: http://tinyurl.com/l6e3he), be respectful. Taking a minute to say thank you would be nice, but if not, please be patient. I ask you humbly with no authority, out of respect for the veterans – the living, the ones who have gone on, and the 400,000 marked by the field of stars who never came home: be aware of your surroundings. Try to save the shouting, yelling, chanting or other overt displays for areas not near and around the war memorials, especially the World War II memorial.

Thank you in advance

Honesty | Reverence | Hope | Thrift | Humility | Charity

1. America Is Good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Sincerity | Moderation | Hard Work | Courage | Personal Responsibility | Gratitude

One really interesting thing was that they had a Jap Zero on display, and the placard mentioned that there were only two flying zeros left in the world. With so many P-51s and all the rest of the WWII era American aircraft, I thought it was neat that so many across the country work so hard to preserve vintage aircraft – in flying condition no less.

However, I was editing a Christmas light show video for a friend, who asked me to put it on YouTube for him so he could show it to his friends and family. I was putzing around on the site and somehow came across a series of videos about a WW2 veteran named Les Loken.

I assume that these sites like YouTube and mySpace are mostly used by young, hip kids so I was blown away when I read some of the comments that folks had left. Comments like ‘All the respect in the world to you Mr. Loken’ and ‘Thank you for sharing these stories will all of us. You help us realize how important our history is, and the people who make our history. Thank you Les.’ Most of the comments seem to center on humble gratitude for his service and recognition of how valuable the stories are and how important it is that they be told.

My own grandfather fought in the Pacific on Okinawa. Sadly, I was too young when he died about 14 years ago, to even begin to grasp what he’d done for his country – what he did for me and my family. I was never able to really ask him what happened or what life was like during the war. The veterans I’ve read of almost universally refused to see themselves as heroes. They were just men who had a deep sense of duty and honor to country. I think for many of them “stories” were horrors they lived so we wouldn’t have to. The overriding theme of Flags of Our Fathers was that they honestly felt that their actions were nothing special or out of the ordinary, or deserving of any attention. The uncommon valor of our veterans truly was, and remains so because of people like Les Loken and my grandfather, a common virtue.