Today we celebrate Veterans Day. I live near the parade route. throughout the day besides lots of marching bands and bag pipes Veterans of all ages, race and gender will march. I will be there to support those who chose to fight in war.

I found the image below on the engaging website: Mic

This sculpture is a truly stunning tribute to America's veterans for Veterans Day.

The stone pillars in Anthem, Arizona, are calibrated to achieve maximum emotional and visual impact: The sun only highlights the Great Seal of the United States at 11:11 a.m. local time on Nov. 11.

By Matt Saccaro On Veterans Day, you might be looking for something a bit more meaningful than just a $2 "support our troops" bumper sticker or lapel pin.

How about this series of stone pillars in Anthem, Arizona, that's calibrated to achieve maximum emotional and visual impact — the sun only highlights the Great Seal of the United States at 11:11 a.m. local time on Nov. 11 — on Veterans Day. For those who don't remember history class, that was the day the armistice bringing World War I to a close was signed.

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Source: Imgur

A rear admiral by the name of Ron Tucker conceptualized the idea, and an artist named Renee Palmer-Jones brought it to life in 2012.

To add even more gravitas to the monument, the bricks contain the names of 750 American war veterans.

Here are some words from my last year's blog sums up my sentiments:

call me a dreamer

but I believe in peace

call me a contradicted peace activist because I can support a Veterans Day parade

and still believe that Peace is the only answer

2012 marked 11 years since America launched head first into Afghanistan

To have watched the parade with so many women vets, injured vets, all proud vets.

Vets from the Coast Guard, National Guard and all branches of what we could consider the usual branches of military.

Now we have drones and NSA spying to protect our freedoms, the unusual the norm.

In an ongoing never to end war on terror, how can you stop a war on terror with Terror?

This is not the America I believe in.

I grew up in the Vietnam generation, the Nuclear Age before the Age of Aquarius, learning to use song and activism to stand up against a government, against a ideal that I don't agree with or understand.

Today I'll be standing along 5th avenue applauding those veterans of all races and gender. It's theirs to celebrate, their survival, their aliveness.

I will continue to hold from my beliefs. I will

Let the sunshine in. Let the sunshine in.

and a video I created:

Veterans Day today to honor our Vets and Vets around the globe.

Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Veterans now home, returned used up, traumatized, spent, wondering if they'll be redeployed. Do we even realize and remember that so many have been fighting far away as a service to our country.

Do we collectively understand the sacrifice that they have made in the name of our freedom, safety and protection? The multiple tours, the trillions of dollars spent. I have a hard time grasping it. But today is a moment to honor our Vets. The living Vets of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Bosnia, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan (+ other conflicts I haven't mentioned).

Today and forever we should honor them. Take a moment. Collectively let's reevaluate why so few are standing up in our name (think volunteer army vs draft). If we don't like it we can change the course.

Peace

Veterans Day, some history: Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice. A federal holiday, it is observed on November 11. It is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world. (from wikipedia)