Reflections from The First Week...

It has been an interesting week. Informative, rewarding, humbling, eye-opening and a host of other “ing's” too numerous to mention.

I discovered reverence for the past, beyond one's own experience, in the Junction City's VFW posts keeping alive the memory of the Buffalo Soldier, as well as their continued support of the current Army.

I discovered open and overt racism from the '60's in Oklahoma where the town's only casualty of Vietnam, a black Marine, was denied burial in the town's cemetery and was laid to rest in a nearby town. fast forward...not only are those feelings gone today, as far as one can see, but veterans from the formerly all white town now regularly visit the black township's cemetery to assist in the upkeep and maintenance of all the gravesites, not just their fallen brother

I discovered four new memorials (new to me) bringing my total up to 785, and predicting it will climb to nearly 1000 before I get back home.

I discovered how effective a small group of people can be in efforts to help veterans in a small town without a lot of assistance, financial or otherwise, just plowing ahead and getting the job done.

I've met genuine heroes, including one man who was put up for the Congressional Medal of Honor for his battlefield actions only to be awarded a lesser medal. The recommendation of his commander says all it need to say as far as I am concerned.

I met a man who works harder for his community than he does for himself, giving more of his time to community service in a month than most of us do in a lifetime...thank you Mike.

I've discovered that I'm not as homesick as I though I might be and that I am looking forward to each new day as it comes, being in the moment as much as possible. I've found that I have set a schedule that is possible to keep, that I am able to maintain my commitments along the way...that I can actually do this.

And, I am wondering what this next week on the road is likely to bring my way. Thanks for reading.