We were young and gay

Well, one of us was, anyway. Funny how that movie phrase from a much earlier era completely took on a different connotation for our generation, and a term of open acceptance for our children's. I chose these black and white photos of my youth, and of the youth I served with in Germany with the Air Force. Black and white because the word "gay" in the era of old black and white movies always meant "marked by exuberance or happy excitement" or "merry". Webster set out a second definition of "bright, especially in color", and third was "full of or given to social pleasures". Down around definition number five was "homosexual". I'm happy to say that today, number five doesn't exclude the first four. We've come a long way, baby, And forty years later, Communism may have wavered and ultimately waned, but terrorism is far more of a threat to our way of life, and it's time for all of us to set aside any perceived differences and pull together for the collective good.

Three of those of us pictured, circa 1970 in Germany, were batting .750, but one of us was four for four. And yet we all focused on those first three meanings, having the exuberance of youth in a strange land, far from the world of war that was Vietnam. And while nobody could say our attire was bright, we all shared the color blue - as in Air Force blue. And from the picture of Pete and Phyllis, clearly some of us were given to social pleasures.

The best news, is that we all stayed in touch, and we all share that same affection we had for each other today. Perhaps it was because we all shared a common adversary, the military mind which not only stifled creativity but seemed threatened by it. And as broadcast journalists, we were anything but military. I am so proud of my Air Force brothers, and thought of these guys yesterday on Veterans Day, November 11, 2011. All those elevens could also be read as ones - and five Aces will always be a winning hand. And yes, there are six in 11/11/2011, but we'll call that last one "one for good measure".

I salute you Don, Pete, Phyllis, and my other broadcast brothers known and unknown. As we of the Vietnam generation say "welcome home, brother (and sister)", we of all generations of our nation's warriors thank those who went before, and those who have followed. God Bless you all.