Stranded at the Veteran's Day Parade

I've been offline because I've been sick. I've also had quite a few personal and professional commitments this week and with the bad cold bug I caught have been too tired for much else. Feeling a little perkier, we trekked over to Frederiksted for the Veteran's Day Parade, arrived at the parade line up, attempted to relocate the car which didn't start. Several consultations, phone calls and a tow truck ride later, I spent the Veteran's Day parade time in the Jeep dealership lobby watching the story of Wake Island and its significance in WWII. Actually, the history channel story was quite startling and a piece of WWII history I had not heard before. A little less than 100 US civilian contractors working on Wake in construction were held by the Japanese on Wake after the military members were sent to POW camps in Japan and China. The civilians were forced to build bunkers and then, after working as forced labor for some time, lined up on the beach and executed when food supplies ran low. Their deaths remained a secret until Wake was recaptured two years later.
The Virgin Islands had a group of military members return from deployment to Iraq recently. A different group is station there now. Soon other groups will join them. Remember them and all the others beyond the parades and the day off of work. Many days abroad remain for them.