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A story about an Iraqi veteran who is missing. Last seen in Georgia. He graduated from UT in 1998.

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Today we pause to honor Veterans who have served and those currently deployed around the world.

Here is one veteran's story. There are millions like it, but this one gets better every time I read it. Thanks Dad, I hope you don't mind.

A WWII Veteran's Story

I got a reminder invite to join the American Legion a few weeks ago. I served during Operation Desert Storm as a Naval Reservist attached to the Marine Corps. How many progessive veterans are there in East Tennessee?

Happy Veterans Day.

The fourth-ranking Democratic senator [Patty Murray, D-Wash] said, "The president can call on Democrats to follow him in lockstep all he wants, but when it comes to caring for our veterans, we are not about to start taking advice from George Bush."

Nearly 30,000 of our troops have been wounded in Iraq.

38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of Marines report psychological conditions such as brain injury and PTSD after returning from deployment. Among members of the National Guard, the figure is much higher — 49 percent — with numbers expected to grow because of repeated and extended deployments.

"Follow him in lockstep". Humpty Dumpty has fallen. The emperor wears no clothes. We just need to impeach Cheney, then Bush, so we can put our country back together again.

As a society we are stagnating, no regressing. That we cannot or will not take care of our veterans is just a small indication of this administration's, and their supporters, inability to maintain, much less enhance, a civil society.

The American Legion, Knoxville Post 2, is sponsoring the 82nd Edition of the Veterans Day Parade.

This parade has been held annually every year except during World War II as a reminder of the armistice of November 11, 1918 ending World War I.

The parade route is from the Coliseum up to Gay Street and down Gay to Depot Street. The parade begins at 10:45AM with a pause for honors at 11:00 AM on Gay Street at Wall Avenue.

Come out and support our veterans!
They need support now as much as they ever have.

Access the American Legion, Post 2, web site for more information and parade participation.

By Bobby Muller, Veterans for America

I have a fundamental question for you two – a really simple basic question. One that every American should be asking themselves right now as you – and the rest of our Senators – get ready to return from your month-long break.

When the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that our troops were at their breaking point, when the Department of Defense reported that our current deployment policies are compounding the wounds of war, causing mental health problems among our troops to skyrocket, and that one of the primary causes was our current policy of deploying troops back to Iraq and Afghanistan without adequate dwell time at home, why didn’t you do something about it?

It sure is hard to believe the person delivering that speech with such fire-and-brimstone zeal is the same guy who all this week has looked like a depressed old loser with a foggy mind. What do they do? Wind him up? Give him some sort of rejuvenating drug that allows him to all of a sudden feel strong and speak clearly again.

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