POV

I was watching the news this evening at dinner and saw that here in Long Beach there was going to be a memorial vigil honoring the 399 teenage soldiers who have died serving their country since 9-11.  The service was supposed to happen just minutes away, so I grabbed my camera and headed over to where everything was happening.

The first thing that hit me when I got there was the string of crosses and stars of David that lined Ocean Blvd all the way from Redondo Avenue to the Long Beach Art Museum.  Each symbol had its own sandbag ready to be lit at sunset along with the photograph and name of the service person being honored.  It caught my breath because looking at these guys and girls, they were about the same age as my dad when he went into the service during World War II.  I immediately felt a wave of gratitude that my dad made it through WWII and the Korean War when he was called back to serve.  These soldiers weren't so lucky.

I met a number of wonderful, warm people at this memorial  -- just regular people who had family serving our country.  I'm glad I took the time to show up.