Honoring Our Veterans

Today is Veteran's Day
A day when most people go out of their way to thank Veterans.
Is thanking them enough?
Should we not also honor them, and find ways to truly show them how much we appreciate their service? 

For The Depth of Their Understanding

 For fighting for freedom, ours and others.

Section of the Berlin Wall, Rapid City SD

 For all the sacrifices they have made big and small.

To all the Veterans who have served or continue to serve I would like to say not only thank you, but that your sacrifices are not in vain and are greatly appreciated.

Now for a look at how small towns and big cities across the country  pay tribute to members of our armed forces.

Inwood, IA

 Rock Rapids, IA

 Sioux Falls, SD

 Hayward, IA

 Washington DC

Many have served most honorably to keep our country safe and make the world a better place and for this we should all be thankful and do what we can not only on this day but on every day to show them we are grateful. Let's do more than just build monuments.

Tearful Farewells and Emotional Homecomings

Oldest Son just after graduation from boot camp

Since my oldest son joined the Navy in 2002 and my Son-In-Law joined in 2006 there have been many tearful farewells and emotional homecomings. I am sure any parent who has a child move far from home experiences joy and sadness saying goodbye or welcoming their child home after a long spell of not seeing them.

Son-in-law leaving for boot camp

While most of our farewells and homecomings have been emotional only a few exceptions have they come close to the level of emotion experienced when sending a loved one off or welcoming them home from a military deployment.

With the kids and their families on the East coast and us back home in the Midwest it was not possible to be there when the boys left on their different deployments or when they returned from deployment, so while I did experience the worry of them being deployed and the relief of knowing they were finally home safely, I did not experience the full impact of such events. Our farewells and homecomings were generally during the summer time when they were home and on leave, or when they were able to get long enough leave to bring their families home for a visit, so the emotions were the typical family reunion emotions.

Just after Thanksgiving, our friend Brown was transferred to a ship that was already underway and we saw him off as he was flown to join the ship on deployment. Just before Brown left he asked if I would come to the pier when his ship pulled in from deployment to photograph his return. I was honored both to be there for him and to take photos of his return. The experience showed me just how much I missed not being on the pier during such important times. 

Saturday morning dawned crisp and cold with Norfolk having received an unusual snowstorm on Friday. We arrived at the pier about an hour before the ship was due to arrive. Many people were already there. Most were inside a heated tent, erected on the pier for the occasion, while others were taking advantage of the snow cover as these children building a snowman are doing. 

Service members worked diligently to clear the pier of snow.

Finally the ship was in sight, with tug boats maneuvering it to the dock as loved ones watched with tears of joy and whispered prayers of thanks.

Once the ship was along side the pier and tied off people were allowed to go out onto the pier to watch for the loved ones. I thought it was pretty awesome that they allowed the families of service members who had a child born during the deployment go first and after a few minutes opened the pier to everyone else.

As you can see there was a good size crowd waiting for the returning sailors to come ashore. The atmosphere was nearly electric with emotion. Excitement and anticipation buzzed all around us. With the temperature barely reaching 30 degrees and the cold wind blowing off the bay it was a long cold wait. 

Weekly Top Shot

Since we were waiting for a friend and not an actual family member we stood toward the back. After almost an hour the crowed had thinned to only maybe 40 people standing on the pier,  and we were beginning to wonder if maybe we had missed Brown.  Then all of a sudden we saw him coming across the  brow, I snapped a few quick shots and then went for a hug. I was so glad to see him safe and sound back in the states. I couldn't help but think how proud his mother, who passed away last fall, would have been to see him come off that ship, and how much I had missed not being there to welcome my boys home. 

Ever since Val suggested we offer to photograph Service member Farewells and Homecomings free of charge I have been all for the idea. Now that I have experienced one I am more determined than ever to let people know that we will photograph these events locally free of charge.

So if you know a service member in the Norfolk area that is having such an event and needs someone to photograph it let them know about us.

After an exciting and cold day yesterday I spent today relaxing indoors. Now head over to one or both of these great meme's to see what is going on elsewhere:

  And    

OpSail 2012: Sea and Air Parade

Wanting to be sure and get a close parking spot and good view I arrived for the parade quite early.

I decided I wanted a shot of the Anzio as it first entered the Waterside Park area so I chose this spot which was pretty empty at first. This grandmother and her cute little granddaughter and I spent about an hour visiting and watching the boats on the waterway.

We could just barely see the lead ships in the parade when a couple of tug boats decided to park right in front of us. Fortunately the captain of this boat realized they were blocking the view and decided to move.

 We were very thankful as once they moved this is the sight that met our eyes.

 In the lead was a US Coast Guard vessel followed by a couple of Fire Boats.

 Next came my son-in-law's ship the USS Anzio.

After the Anzio passed I decided to hurry down the boardwalk and capture a few shots from further down. There were quite a few people out to see the parade.

Above the USS Anzio passes the RFA Argus as it heads back to dock at Norfok Naval base.
Here the RFA Argus which was the largest vessel in the parade to come all the way into Norfolk  is getting ready to be turned with the aid of the tug boats.

 It was an amazing sight, watching as they spun this huge ship. I have to admit I was a bit worried they wouldn't have enough room it was so big. But they got her turned around without any problems.

Knowing I could not stay for the entire parade I headed back to the spot where I started to capture a couple more shots of the next ship coming in. It wasn't until I was going through the photos that I realized how good my timing had been. The ship coming in is the Brazilian BNS Independencia and the couple in the right corner are wearing shirts with Brazil on the sleeve.

I moved to another spot so I could get a clearer shot of the Brazilian ship before going in search of the docks where some of these ships would be docking for the duration of the festival.

I was finally rewarded when I found this spot just as the BNS Independencia was anchoring to the dock.

Tomorrow I will be heading back to the OpSail festival for the Tall Ship Parade and get shots of both the tall ships and more of the military vessels.

In Honor of Memorial Day

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