Pic-A-Theme: 7.3.2009 - "Theme #7: Stars & Stripes"

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"Flags of My Fathers"
Raleigh, NC - May 2009 (Click to embiggen)
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Tomorrow we will salute the fallen heroes of all of America's Great Wars. We will sing the praises of those who fought the Redcoats, and the Kaiser. We will bow our heads in honor of those who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. We will remember the bitterness of Vietnam and we will argue amongst ourselves about the current action in Iraq and Afghanistan. And these are all valid rememberances, all worth the time we take to observe them. Because those who have fought and fallen and bled and died for the last 233 years to keep this the Land of the Free should certainly be remembered, and honored.
But those observances are for tomorrow, when our nation celebrates 233 years of America, For Better or For Worse. Today, I'm going to ask you to take a moment to remember the ordinary heroes. Not the ones with a chest full of ribbons, but the ones with a chest full of heart. Today, nine years ago, the world lost one such hero. You probably never met him, probably never even heard his name. He was struck down at the age too-young age of 67, not by an enemy bullet, but by leukemia. He spent his life -- his career -- working for the betterment of others. He was the one who taught me the difference between a teacher and an educator. The one who taught me that it was better to make no promise than an empty one. He was the one that taught me that by building up those around you, you stand taller, not smaller. And that by tearing those around you down, you take yourself down with them.

Heroism takes many forms.

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