I have held onto this traveler for far too long, so I'm releasing it today, less than a week prior to Independence Day. Later today, I will greet my son, who is a Specialist in the Army Reserves when he arrives home from a month of training.
During the time I held this TB, I have taken it to 25 cemeteries -- the most memorable of which was Hydro Masonic Cemetery in Oklahoma, where more than half of the graves bore U.S. flags that Memorial Day. Some of those cemeteries were tiny, holding fewer than two dozen souls. Yet at each one there was an indication that at least one of its inhabitants served his (or her) country. Some of these dated back to the Civil War.
In between those visits, this TB made stops at two veterans memorials and was taken to the peaks of mountains in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, where God's grandeur could be seen for miles and miles. This traveler also made stops at several missile silos in SW Oklahoma and northern Texas where the U.S. military operated defense systems in the early 1960s.
Although I failed miserably at sending you the names of veterans who gave their all in defense of their country, rest assured your TB came in contact with countless heroes. It was an honor to hold your traveler for just a little while.