Straight From The Hart

    Newspaper column 2018 Americans love reunions and welcome home ceremonies. Now that most of us have unrestricted access to the internet, including YouTube, we seem to have unending supply of emotional reunions when our military service men and women show up unexpectedly and surprise their children at school or elsewhere. Also popular are the videos of service members who arrive home and surprise their family pets and end up getting knocked to the ground by the exuberance of the dog in showing its happiness. It should come as no surprise to us why we enjoy these videos so much. It’s in our national DNA. Warapped up in those scenes of warmth and hugs and love are all the values we treasure - home, family, faith, God and country, patriotism, pride in who we are and our love of freedom and democracy. Never is the patriotism aspect of this national fervency more obvious than when we welcome home those men and women who have served their country in time of war when the circumstan