click on photo for larger versionToday's photo reflects just a small part of what my wife discovered on one of her evening jogs this week. In our neighborhood there is a block long cul-de-sac in which you will find the scene in this photo. But what you don't see is that every house on that block has flags, balloons and signs welcoming home a local hero. It is a story that I suppose is being repeated across our country and it is indeed a welcome sight. It is another reminder for me personally that all around me people are experiencing things that I'm typically oblivious too.
I speak from personal experience when I say that I'm glad that we are welcoming home our veterans and honoring the sacrifice that they and their families make so that they may serve. My father had no such homecoming 41 years ago upon returning from Viet Nam. I remember as a 5 year old being woke up in the middle of the night by my mother, telling me that we had to go to the airport to pick up my dad who I hadn't seen for an entire year. My dad was told 40 hours earlier that he was on his way home and when he arrived in Savannah, Georgia, there wasn't even a car to pick him up.
I never heard my dad complain about not being recognized for his sacrifice. I really don't think it ever crossed his mind. But I know if he was still here today, he'd go out of his way to welcome home his fellow veterans. Regardless of your ideology, it's just the right thing to do.
Photo info: Shot with camera in AV mode at f5.6. Duplicated layer in Photoshop. Converted duplicate to BW and tweaked levels. Used a layer mask to reveal selective color.
4 comments:
I love this photo, both from a photography point of view (and thank you SO MUCH for the play by play for us who need the direction, ha!) and from a military wife point of view. :) I hope someone will point this returning hero to your site.
if you ever write a guest post for my blog i want to be the gen-x telling of a vietnam veteran dad coming home from that awful war. great photo, jim. you have an eye and a heart.
Kristie and Jen...thank you both. And Jen, I'm flattered by your thought that I might write a guest post for your blog. Let me see if I can come up with something and I'll send it to your editor. :)
Great photo. I'm glad Jen told me about your blog because I predict it is going to be huge and I can say "I knew you when".
Hey I heard about a group of veterans that are always there when a veteran arrives in an airport to take them home in case their family can't be there. Isn't that great. I think fear consumed people during the Vietnam war.
Post a Comment