Thought I would do an update.I made the Military Ball on 21 Jan.
They ask me to talk for no more than 20 minutes but at least 15 plus. I made it 19 min. 27 seconds.
I did heed a lot of advice from the forum; I went to the grandson and had him help with corrections and rewriting so that it had a good flowing pattern.
Until an hour or so before the time to speak I did not know that the Mayor, some councilmen/women, school board members and other dignitaries would be there.
I was nervous and really worried that I would bore everyone in the building, especially them.
As I spoke and looked out over the crowd I did not see one eye closing or a soul fidgeting around, not even the young men and women looked bored .( There is always a few that could care less I think 6 kids out of 160 plus were playing around but were quiet.)
I finished the speech and knew it went well when I received a 20 second or so standing ovation. I saw a lot of tears as well as my own.
When things were pretty much over the wife noticed a lot of people walking over and looking at my shadow box with some of my medals in it. She moved over to it just on the chance someone wanted to say or ask something. A lot of people talked to her. Some even ask if I would consider speaking at other events as they could listen to the same speech again.
I had stood there by that shadow box for an hour and half before the speech and hardly a soul walked by but afterwards was a different story. I knew then for sure it was a good solid speech .
A lot of the young people wanted to ask me questions but were not allowed to. I understand the reason for not allowing it ,so told the grandson to round them up at a burger joint one day and we would talk
It was really enjoyable with a lot of pics and the complete speech on camera.
If any of you get the same chance jump on it.You will not regret it

Congrats, glad to hear that the speech went well.
Did anyone happen to take a video?

I would love to hear you story as well. Thank you for your service and willingness to share with a new generation.

Glad everything went well!

Red Turbo,
Yes, we did get it on video. The video is not good but the sound is.
The complete speech as well as the end of the color guard leaving with the flags. The Grandson was leading the guard. It is him playing a french horn at he end as well.
We made several disk of it.
In the future I will share some short pieces of it .
The only thing is it is about me which is what they ask for.
Please do not take it as bragging as this stuff has laid dormant in a box for 43 years and it is not any easier now for me than back then when I put everything away.

Thank you for sharing. And thank you for encouraging those young men. Young men need both inspiration and wisdom to be shared with them for them to be their best. They seek mentors and guides but seldom know where to look and are rarely fortunate enough to find good ones.

I would enjoy hearing the speech if you ever decide to upload it to a photobucket account or something like that (I wouldn't go to youtube with something that personal).

Personal stories are what make me enjoy history, sure you can read about it on the web. but someones biography of video of them talking about an event they were at makes the actually event so much more interesting.
PS: dont know if i actually said this at some point but thank you for your service.