Veterans who live among us often inspire us...

---

Speaking with The Second Lady is always great; her enthusiasm is evident right through the phone.

I thank the Lord every night that Kara is in an organization that recognizes her talents and gives her the opportunity to thrive.

With images of Marcy Darcy, Al 

Bundy's banker neighbor, dancing in my head as we speak, I ask how things are going with Regis.

The conversation goes to another level with my daughter's zeal as she relates some of her customer encounters.

She has a few 'favorites'.

  One of those is a stud combat veteran, a helicopter pilot who rescued a LRRP (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) team in Vietnam. 

 Mel Shinholster is a bonafide United States Army hero.

Ann and Mel Shinholster at the DAR State Convention in Auburn, where Shinholster won the first Distinguished Citizen Medal given in Alabama by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Read more at: https://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/2015/01/05/mel-shinholster-honors-veterans-as-bssfi-president/

 "We’ve been compromised and we need an extraction."

I can still distinctly remember our RECONDO instructor, with that serious and somber look on his face, indicating when all avenues of egress have been exhausted...

... the Pric 77 will be our lifesaver.

"It was April 4, 1969, and just-turned 21-year-old Mel Shinholster was in command of his UH-1 Huey helicopter, scanning the night time tree line.

Shinholster was looking for any sign of the U.S. Army Rangers fighting for their lives below, in a foot race to stay ahead of North Vietnamese Army units that were in hot pursuit."

Read more:

https://www.al.com/wire/2013/10/a_vet_remembers_44_years_ago_a.html