Today it is most important that we pause to remember and thank all of our veterans, regardless of when they served or where.

I am proud to have served for six years in the U.S. Army Reserve - but much, much more proud of my father who served in the Army during World War II. His unit fought through France and into Germany. He was part of the 68^th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 14^th Armored Division of the Seventh Army that liberated the Dachau concentration camp.

Of course, my father's story was not that much different than that of tens of thousands of other soldiers, sailors, and airmen. He came home. Many of his fellow soldiers did not.

In his later years, my father took great pride in wearing his WWII baseball-style cap whenever he went out. But by the time the WWII Memorial was completed here in Washington, he was too feeble to make the trip to visit it. I know it would have meant a lot to him to witness the memorial first-hand.

Which brings me to "Honor Flight," the organization dedicated to bringing WWII veterans to Washington to visit the WWII memorial and others. An estimated 640 of the remaining living WWII vets die each day, so obviously time is running out. Perhaps you been at an airport when an "Honor Flight" arrives with the WWII vets walking - or much more often now, rolling in their wheelchairs - down the arrival ramp. Almost always, the crowd pauses, often breaking into respectful applause.

And I have no shame in saying I almost always have a tear in my eye - knowing how much these men and women have sacrificed and how little time they have left.

If you want to pause on this Veterans Day to reflect, you might consider watching the movie, "Honor Flight." You can view the movie trailer here too. In and of itself, the trailer's very moving and well worth the 2:20 minutes.

However you spend Veterans Day, I hope you join me in honoring all our veterans - and thanking them for their service.