Our independence was bought and paid for with lives and lead. Independence is insured by the Bill of Rights and, in our opinion, the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.
Long may she fly over the land of the free.
And happy birthday to the United States Army!
The statistics counter on the Never Forget Tribute should roll past 50,000,000 later this evening. Each time the graphic is served up on web pages that embed the tribute, the hit counter advances by one. Damsel and I thank those of you who have taken the time to embed the tribute on your websites. It’s people like you who know that America, and the World, can Never Forget. We are grateful that so many of you care.
The animation was originally inspired by an anonymously-produced PowerPoint slideshow making the rounds on the Internet and via emails after 9/11. I gathered some of the graphics and produced the prototype of the graphic to display on my personal website. After refinements and improvements suggested by Damsel and others, it appears as it does today. This is the graphic seen in the right sidebar depicting the attacks on America by terrorists. Recently, I added the U.S.S. Cole attacks in tribute to the 17 Sailors murdered by terrorists.
In August of 2005, I made the animation available to anyone. The offer was only taken by a few sites at first, but since then, many more have begun displaying the animation. As of December 2005, there were over 200 sites linking to it, and that number has been growing since. Sites in the US, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, the UK, Italy and several other countries, display the tribute on their pages.
We drove up US 95 from Kingman, AZ, toward Las Vegas, today. We crossed from Arizona to Nevada at Hoover Dam. These art-deco angels were acting as the color guard for the flagpole that stands at the West end of the dam. The inscription is a very nice one, telling how fitting it is to place the American Flag at this site.
Click here to see the inscription.
Thank you Veterans for your service, your sacrifices, and your spirit. May God bless you all.
Two years ago, Damsel took this shot of the Lomita, California Veterans of Foreign Wars post. Each year, they fly these brilliant colors all over the property. A large American Flag and the POW flag were on the mast high over the post. We get a nice thrill out of their show of VFW patriotism on Veterans Day.
In the true spirit of “Never Forget” we re-post our original tribute to Mark Scott Zeplin, one of the 2996 victims killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. There were 2996 victims killed, but we were all victims of the pain inflicted by the attacks. Here’s our original “2996” tribute on this Patriot Day, 2008.
Damsel and I are very proud to be able to honor Marc Scott Zeplin on the fifth anniversary of 9/11/2001 and to be part of the 2996 Project.
“Zep” is what his friends called him. Zep was one of the 2996 victims who perished in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Marc Scott Zeplin, age 33.
Place killed: World Trade Center. Resident of Harrison, N.Y. (USA).
Marc Zeplin worked in the World Trade Center offices of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company. Reading what Marc’s friends and family have written about him, Marc was well-liked and respected by peers, friends and others who wrote words about him following his death.
The following is from Zep’s tribute at the memorial site that his company set up to remember their employees that were lost in the attack:
Date of Birth: January 12, 1968
Department: Equity Sales
A group of friends named and registered a star in the heavens in memory of Marc Zeplin. How fitting as he was a star in the eyes of so many.
Successful as an equity trader, he formed close relationships with his clients but he was foremost a family man. Marc was very caring and devoted to his wife Debra, sons Ryan (3 yrs old) and Ethan (10 months), parents, sister and in-laws. He adored his children and treasured the time he spent with them. Marc was very proud of the new home he and his wife built in Westchester and enjoyed the change from urban to suburban living.
Raised in Long Island, Marc attended Oceanside High School and the University of Michigan where he also continued to earn a master’s degree in the acclaimed business school. Marc’s first career calling was sports casting. He loved sports of all kinds and enjoyed broadcasting games in Michigan during his college years. However, when he returned to New York, he found immediate employment in the financial world and soon after started at Cantor Fitzgerald where he became a partner.
Marc was truly a “master of the word.” He knew how and what to say in order to put you at ease, make you laugh or help you resolve a problem. Marc loved people. He had many friends and demonstrated a zest for living life to the fullest. He was tops in every way. He even worked at the top. The right position for so many years unfortunately was wrong on only one day – September 11, 2001.
— Debra Zeplin and Leora Zeplin, Marc’s Wife and Mother.
After I set out 10 little flags lining the walkway to the door today, we spent our day relaxing and barbecuing. The meal was spare ribs, corn on the cob and squash medley. I read an article about the meal being served to many of our troops in Iraq, which, coincidentally, was also ribs and corn on the cob. Instead of squash, they were served a dessert of red, white and blue cake.
