Honoring Their Sacrifice

Letter from the Editor

by Tim Holbert

“Humility…humility…should be the portion of a person who receives fame or acclaim based on the blood of his subordinates, and the sacrifices of his friends.”

These few lines were spoken by retired Lt. General Hal Moore, upon being presented with the American Veterans Center’s Joe Ronnie Hooper Award on November 10, 2007. Those words have hung in my mind since that night. Of course, they provide a glimpse into his character and the reasons why so many brave men have followed him into battle. But the words really mean much more. They serve as a reminder to each of us—whether we served in battle, served in peacetime, or merely know someone who has served—that it is our duty to not merely remember those who have sacrificed, but to share their stories, and to keep their legacies alive for future generations.

We at the American Veterans Center are dedicated to doing our small part in this mission, and are honored to have your support along the way. As our readers may know, each year over Veterans Day weekend, we bring together America’s most distinguished veterans for our three-day annual conference where they share their experiences with hundreds of high school and college students, fellow veterans, and citizens eager to learn the stories of our uniformed heroes.

In this issue of American Valor Quarterly, we are proud to share several of these stories with you, told at our 10th Annual Conference from November 8-10, 2007. Included are the transcripts from a number of the speaker panels that took place at the conference, featuring veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, along with our brave young men and women who are serving us so gallantly today. Also included are the citations for the American Veterans Center’s 2007 award recipients, those veterans and service members who have displayed such valor far beyond the call of duty and a depth of character that remains long after their own battles have ended.

For those readers who were not able to attend the conference, this is your opportunity to take part in this gathering of heroes; for those who did attend, we hope that this will provide an opportunity to relive a weekend that none of us who were there will soon forget. And, as always, we ask that when you are finished reading this issue, you share it with at least one young person you know, so that they might gain a new appreciation for the concepts of duty, honor, and country embodied by our military men and women. Each of these panels, and many more, can also be viewed by visiting our website at www.americanveteranscenter.org.

Regardless, this issue of AVQ, along with the many other programs of the American Veterans Center, is dedicated to that one mission—to preserve the stories, teach the lessons, and honor the sacrifices of all those who have worn the uniform of the United States military.