Three fingers up…

Last year, when Virginia Motorcoach was in Pigeon Forge, we saw a ton of shows, and nearly every show in town featured the same three elements at the end of the show…country music, gospel music, and patriotic music. Many of us ended up holding up 1 finger when they started the country segment, 2 fingers when the gospel began, and three fingers for the final element that ended every show (except one). It was something that continues to this day, like any good running joke (happened again during a show we enjoyed during North Carolina Motorcoach a week ago, in fact).

But these three fingers were well deserved, as ABA “officially” opened the convention Sunday morning with a salute to the military. If you’ve never been to Virginia Beach, or Hampton Roads as a whole, the presence of our military is very powerful there. You’ve got Naval repair facilities in Norfolk and surrounding, and the jets taking off and landing from NAS Oceana (2 miles from the Convention Center) were a constant background to everything we did.

No politics here…you can agree or disagree with our presence in (name your favorite foreign country). I don’t care if you think we should or should not be there. I DO care about those men and women that are out there..it wasn’t their choice where to go, only to serve, protect and defend the country they love so much. For that, no matter the reasons, we owe them so much more than we could ever repay.

A representative of each branch of the military spoke to us about their service, their experience, and why they serve. It was at times very funny, and frequently heart wrenching, with very few dry eyes in the house. When one told about losing a friend to an IED, all I could think of was my brother-in-law Carl, who is in Iraq right now, and who lost his roommate to a similar device. And Roni couldn’t take it at all, and left the room very quickly…two of her sons ship out to Afghanistan very soon, so she didn’t need to hear any of this right now.

Thanks, ABA/Virginia Beach, for reminding us that it’s not a political issue after all. It’s men and women doing what they are told, who need our support more and more each day. To Marine Captain John Sand, Air Force Technical Sergeant Paralyn McClain, Navy Petty Officer Emily Klinefelter, and Army Staff Sergeant Gary Heffernan, thank you very VERY much for bringing it all home for us all. May God richly bless you for your service and dedication.

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