This weekend we honor all our brave heroes - the men and women who served our country to maintain our freedom to live as we do. This is the time we celebrate the beginning of summer and most of us have barbeques with good old-fashioned American food, such as hot dogs, hamburgers and potato salad. We hold our flags high to remind ourselves of those who are integral in our being able to enjoy these simple pleasures. We need to know and remember what they endured so that our generation and those to come will continue to enjoy our country, despite the turmoils that occur within our systems. We still have the right to agree and disagree, complain and cheer for things we hold dear to our heart. Let's not take that for granted. Ever.
Quincy, Illinois is home to the Veterans who served our country and need a place to live. It holds various barracks and housing facilities for anyone who served our country. If you are looking for a place to tour that is only five hours from Chicago, I highly recommend taking a trip here to see how we honor our Vets. They have a pond in the shape of the state of Illinois and the grounds are fabulous.
Wayne's Uncle Stephan Nalepa will be 93 soon and he served in the Army during World War II in Germany. We have a few other family members that served our country; Wayne's dad, George Wind, served in the Navy in World War II as a cook for the soldiers, Wayne's Uncle Edward Nalepa served the Korean War my Uncle William Girtman served in the Berlin Crisis Army. Uncle Ronald Mielzynski served in the Korean War. My Great Uncle Bob Morgan served in the Army Infantry during World War II and in Korean War, joining his brothers Richard Morgan who served in the Army Air Core during World War II and the Korean War, Wayne Morgan served in the Air Force during the Korean War and Jack Morgan served in the Army in World War II. All these brothers survived the Wars. My Great Grandfather William Morgan served in the Army during World War I and my Great-Great Grandfather Alfread Girtman, served in the Civil War Union Army. Tom Riley served in the Air Force and Dennis Palaszynski served in the Army in Vietnam. My brother John Mielzynski served in the Marines and just missed having to be part of Desert Storm. That's a lot of brave heroes in our family!
The Veteran's Museum is loaded with historical memorabilia from every war since our country was conceived. This weekend we hold tribute for all their efforts and keep them in our prayers in thanksgiving for their contributions. I am grateful for all the Veterans of the past and those serving today. I am proud to be an American, no matter what shape or form we get ourselves into, we are still the greatest country. To all our heroes - I salute you.
God Bless You All! xo
