The Moving Wall - Veterans Day Post

I've been saving these pictures to do a Veterans Day post since July and I was so busy this last weekend, that I'm just now getting a chance to post them. So happy belated Veterans Day to all those who have sacrificed and served, including families of  vets whose jobs are just as important. 

Last July our community was honored to have the Moving Wall come to our town for the very first time. I give props to the local VFW for making it happen. It was meaningful and generated a lot of discussion with our kids. We were fortunate not to have anyone we knew on The Wall, but there were many others around us who were still grieving loved ones and friends.  It was open 24 hours a day while it was here, so people could grieve privately at night. When we arrived, they gave us a name to find and a piece of paper to rub the name onto.  Just trying to find the name in that sea of names put things into perspective. 

I shot this picture at the end of west side of the Wall with the reflection of the rest of the east side behind the names.

 Josiah walked around the entire wall, looking at all the names.

The helmet says, "Short Timer" on it.

The middle of The Wall.

My friend's father, worked really hard to bring The Moving Wall to our community. He was a Marine in Vietnam. We met so many wonderful vets over the two days we were able to attend.

Here he is again. So handsome and proud in his uniform. He made a wonderful Master of Ceremonies. 

Lowering the flag during the closing ceremonies. They had a 21 gun salute and played echoing "Taps".

Each name on The Wall has family and friends who love him even now. Many have children that never got to meet their father. The significance of each name on The Wall is not lost, even all these years later. It goes beyond The Wall, to every veteran who has sacrificed and served to keep this country great since the beginning of our country. Shame on the rest of us if we squander or take our freedoms for granted. 

May God Bless America!