habu3
11-14-2006, 21:14
First of all, a huge thank you to all veterans of all our Services. You should all be very proud of the sacrifices you have made for your country, family and friends.
Here is how we celebrated...
My karate dojo holds a Black Belt Testing event on each Veterans Day or the closest Friday to it. Why? The master is a retired USMC LtCol and there are a lot of us retirees and veterans. This year we incorporated a POW/MIA ceremony and had many distinguished guests. Since we are in the DC Metro area we invited several injured military members to attend the event. We had 10 US Army members injured during their service in Iraq. We also had, as a guest of honor, an individual that flew 32 combat missions in WWII, served in Korea, Vietnam and helped stand up the unit that supports NORAD. He just happens to be my dad. We surprised him with a bunch of photos of him in his flight suit from WWII, during his later days, etc. I also found a complete listing of all his missions including the entire B-24 crew for each mission, what the destination was, and what the mission orders were. I even found a report of when they had to ditch the aircraft after their first run to Berlin because of all the AAA and fighter damage they received. The B-24 was not noted for being a very good boat, but the entire crew was rescued.
The other distinguished visitors we had included a Kungfu Grandmaster who is a retired US Navy LCDR and a Goju Grandmaster that is a retired US Navy CPO. We also had a retired USMC Maj that is a true snake eater (shooter), several retired US Army officers and a few retired US Air Force folks.
Oh, the reason why my dad was invited is because my son was receiving his first Black Belt. I also got another one (well actually two and one was a 4th Degree) but my dad came up for the grandson.
Thanks for listening, it was a great time.
Respects
Habu3 USAF MSGT retired
Here is how we celebrated...
My karate dojo holds a Black Belt Testing event on each Veterans Day or the closest Friday to it. Why? The master is a retired USMC LtCol and there are a lot of us retirees and veterans. This year we incorporated a POW/MIA ceremony and had many distinguished guests. Since we are in the DC Metro area we invited several injured military members to attend the event. We had 10 US Army members injured during their service in Iraq. We also had, as a guest of honor, an individual that flew 32 combat missions in WWII, served in Korea, Vietnam and helped stand up the unit that supports NORAD. He just happens to be my dad. We surprised him with a bunch of photos of him in his flight suit from WWII, during his later days, etc. I also found a complete listing of all his missions including the entire B-24 crew for each mission, what the destination was, and what the mission orders were. I even found a report of when they had to ditch the aircraft after their first run to Berlin because of all the AAA and fighter damage they received. The B-24 was not noted for being a very good boat, but the entire crew was rescued.
The other distinguished visitors we had included a Kungfu Grandmaster who is a retired US Navy LCDR and a Goju Grandmaster that is a retired US Navy CPO. We also had a retired USMC Maj that is a true snake eater (shooter), several retired US Army officers and a few retired US Air Force folks.
Oh, the reason why my dad was invited is because my son was receiving his first Black Belt. I also got another one (well actually two and one was a 4th Degree) but my dad came up for the grandson.
Thanks for listening, it was a great time.
Respects
Habu3 USAF MSGT retired
