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No picture, but I saw the following on the web -- it sums up our military (brings tears to my eyes):
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in This country who no longer understand it.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Ingles, Senior JROTC Marine Instructor at the Veterans Day Ceremony, Rio Rancho,
New Mexico, November 2006. Photo by Rich Sanchez.
Private First Class Alejandro R. Ruiz (June 26, 1923 - November 20, 2009) was a former United States Army soldier
who was awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration, for his actions in the Battle of
Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands during World War II. Ruiz was born and raised in Loving, New Mexico and enlisted in
the United States Army in the town of Carlsbad, New Mexico upon the outbreak of World War II. On April 28, 1945,
PFC Ruiz's unit was pinned down by machine gun fire coming from a camouflaged Japanese pillbox and was unable to
advance to its assigned objective. Ruiz, on his own initiative, charged the pillbox under a hail of machine gun fire. On
his second attempt, he was able to neutralize the pillbox by killing all of its occupants. For his actions he was awarded
the Medal of Honor. On June 26, 1946, President Harry S. Truman presented Ruiz with the Medal of Honor in a
ceremony held at the White House..
Ruiz, died in November 2009. Lieutenant Colonel John Andonie, commander of the 1st Battalion 69th Infantry and
Command Sergeant Major Jorge Vasquez traveled to California to remember Ruiz with a wreath laying ceremony, and
to present their respects to his daughter. The ceremony was on January 25th, 2010. The two presented a wreath on
behalf of the 69th Infantry Regiment's Veterans' Association at Ruiz' final resting place in conjunction with California's
Yountville Veterans Home in Napa Valley where Ruiz spent his final years. Photo Credit: Staff Sergeant Kevin Abbott,
New York Army National Guard.
The Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon performs during the Battle Color Ceremony on Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan,
March 4th, 2010. The drill routine was created by Corporal Robert Dominguez, the 62nd Drill Master of the Silent Drill
Platoon, and will be performed throughout the year. Photo courtesy The Marine Corps, photo by Lance Corporal
Stefanie C. Pupkiewicz.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Russian General of the Army Nikolay Makarov, chief of
the General Staff bid farewell at Arlington National Cemetery on April 23rd, 2010. The leaders participated in a
wreath laying ceremony commemorating the 65th anniversary of the link up of U.S. and Soviet forces during World
War II at the Elbe River in Germany on April 25th, 1945. DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist Chad J.
McNeeley.
Ruth Tompkins, a World War II pilot who flew for the Women Airforce Service Pilots, and her daughter, Lorie Brakas,
stand next to a "Fly Girls" display during a reception to honor all 1,102 of the service pilots at the Women in Military
Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, March 9th, 2010. Photo Courtesy DoD, photo
by Linda Hosek.
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (center) U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador H. Douglas Barclay
are flanked by U.S. Marines as they salute members of the U.S military killed during the El Salvador civil war at a
Veteran's Day ceremony at the United States Embassy in San Salvador, El Salvador, on November 11th, 2004.
Rumsfeld is in El Salvador to commend them for their steadfastness in Iraq as a coalition partner. Rumsfeld and 33
more defense ministers from throughout the Western Hemisphere will assemble in Quito, Ecuador, on November 15th
for the Defense Ministerial of the Americas conference which will focus on strengthening the inter-American security
system. Courtesy DoD, photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant James M. Bowman.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace, U.S. Marine Corps, talks to a young man in the audience at
the Veterans Day wreath ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington,
Virginia. on November 11th, 2005. Courtesy DoD, photo by U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Sean P. Houlihan.
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