American Heroes...

I started this week off as a very proud and thankful American as I took time to think about our veterans and those men and women serving our country today. During our morning broadcast on Monday, I took my opportunity to say thank you to our veterans and acknowledged my family members that have served in WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam War. I told Lenise and John, there is nothing quite like sitting with one of our veterans and listening to their stories. Stories of the ultimate courage, bravery, sacrafice as you hear not only about their personal accounts of battle but of their fellow comrades that fought alongside them and their battlefield stories too.

Well, I want to take a moment to thank my colleagues from the newsroom, anchor Molly Grantham and photographer Trent Faris, for a fine collection of stories they shared with all of us this week. Each day featured a different story and set of memories from one of our many military veterans. I just sat back in the weather center, stopped what I was doing and watched each report. I marvel at the detail of each set of stories shared but also can't help but get watery-eyed too. From talking about how their 'buddies' have passed on and they miss them... with a quivering sound of deep emotion. Another veteran told of how he heard the huge boom and then being told we had dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima... years later, he told of how radiation from the bomb forced he and his wife to adopt. A story of grabbing a rifle during the attack on Pearl Harbor and finding refuge in a bomb crater while shooting at the Japanese planes in desperation. Molly and Trent did such a wonderful job of finding lots of historical video to support each report. The entire series was so well done and I was very proud of their work.

So Molly and Trent, thank you for sharing their stories with all of us and a big thank you to each veteran that gave me a chance to hear their experiences. I just learned so much and feel better for knowing these stories as an American. I also want to end this by again thanking each of you for your service to our country and giving us all an opportunity to enjoy the freedoms this country has to offer. This goes to the men and women serving our country right now as well. You are all American heroes in my eyes:)