American Hero's in Austin

Had the opportunity to attend a Bronze Star Award Ceremony at the Army Reserve Ambassador Conference in Austin, Texas. A young, Army Reserve soldier received the award and his wife and family were by his side. It was a very touching ceremony as they described the battle where he distinguished himself by upmost bravery. Also got to spend some time with a Silver Star Medal recipient. He is James McEachin, a veteran of the Korean war and a well-known actor, having appeared years ago in Perry Mason. He has a long list of credits and is a published author. He is a great guy and someone who is very dedicated to the well being of our soldiers.

There were over 70 of the 85 U.S. Army Reserve Ambassadors from throughout the country in attendance at the conference. There were a lot of interesting sessions and I presented a session on Tuesday morning dealing with connecting the Army Reserve with Local Governments. The session went well and I received a lot of requests for more information on the National League of Cities and our Inclusive Communities program. We had a great cookout on Monday night and I was able to enjoy the great Texas weather. It was very warm with a slight breeze.

Unfortunately, several of the Army Reserve Ambassadors that I have known for several years are suffering from physical ailments. Lots of heart problems and other types of prolems. They are a great group of friends and I enjoy spending time with them. We have been able to travel to military bases throughout the United States and visitied with our Army Reserve troops. One of the nice things is that most of them have a great deal of military experience and very seldom do they talk about some of the very distinguished things that they have done.

Also got to speak to General Vincent Brooks, who was the spokesman for the Iraqi War operation. He was on television almost every night and is now in charge of Civil Affairs for the entire U.S. Army. He gave a very interesting briefing on the way that the Army is working to insure our country's safety and security.

All in all, a very interesting trip. Didn't get to see much of Austin, but everyone said it was a really great place. Several people visited the LBJ Library and some were going to travel to the LBJ Ranch, which is about 70 miles from Austin. One interesting thing that I heard about was a bridge in Austin where millions of bats live and fly out around 6:30PM each evening. They say that there are so many bats that it looks like smoke coming from under the bridge. One day I hope to get to see the "bats".

Flights were great but I forgot my IPod and didn't get to listen to my music. Was happy to get back and answer about 50 e-mails.

So long for now...............