I certainly have a very deep appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy in this country. We owe our freedoms to the many who have served our country in defense of these freedoms. In my view, Veterans Day should be everyday and this goes for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day as well. As a Blogger, I am often reminded how important freedom is since my Posts are written free of suppressive rules allowing me to cross political lines, national and international lines, and even religious and non-religious lines to mention only a few lines. In fact, there is no guarantee “Friends of Copey” or the inspiration to dream about the possibilities of helping young people in a far away community without negative consequences would exist without freedom. This week’s Post is dedicated to those who have served our country to protect our freedoms.
Meet Curtis (Duck) Montgomery. Duck, as I grew up calling him, is the oldest veteran I know at age 99 and counting. He was recently recognized and honored for his military service and traveled to Washington, D.C. to visit the WWII Memorial.
Duck journeyed to the WWII Memorial with his family and other veterans from Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee. Duck and I go back a long way. He was a close friend of my grandparents and they belonged to the same church. I grew up with Duck being close by. During my college days at Emory & Henry College, he was my boss when I worked in the college’s kitchen as a student employee earning money to help pay my school expenses.
Over the many years since college, he has continued to be a close family friend. He has been just one of those rare and wonderful people you come to realize has always been there in your life. He is a devoted Christian and an ageless role model. I have been honored to have him as my special guest at several college events including my induction into my college’s Sports Hall of Fame. Over the past 3 years, he attended both memorial services for my brother and mother further demonstrating his ongoing closeness to our family.
Duck, a very special thank you and God Bless You for your service to our country and for touching so many lives during your wonderful and long lifetime.
Next, I express my gratitude and my heartfelt thanks to Michael Charles, Danny Watkins, Kenneth Delaney, and Frank Campbell, Jr., all died before turning 21 while serving our country during the Viet Nam War. Michael, Danny, Kenneth, and I played high school football together at Douglass High School, in Bristol, Virginia. Several other classmates died during the Viet Nam War but these four were very close friends.
Lou Peery and Gene Gabriel are both college fraternity brothers, life long friends, and fellow veterans. There are many other veterans I devote this Post to including the most recent veteran I now include…Adam, a veteran Marine who served in Iraq. As a fellow veteran, I salute you all!
Sing with Ray Charles and me..!
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