Posted By:
MAF Blogger Danny
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December 2
3:00 PM
Amarillo, TX

Not wanting to drive endlessly after Alamogordo, we over-nighted in Roswell, NM so as not to have to drive the 8 hours without any rest. So today we got up at 9 AM and got back on the road finally getting to Amarillo, still about 10 minutes behind schedule. Ha Ha, I know, come on MAF can’t you ever be anywhere on time. Our overwhelming desire to see everyone in the country leads us to pack our schedules full of stops, so that’s the only explanation I can offer.

The city of Amarillo provided a great crowd for us, and the location was ideal. We met at the Texas Panhandle War Memorial. This is just an awesome park, and I want to share with you all a bit about what this memorial has to offer. First of all this memorial doesn’t just recognize the big names of past wars, but includes a dedication to veterans of conflicts like Grenada, Somolia, and Kosovo. It also has a special memorial for Purple Heart recipients. The administrators of the memorial also gave me some information which I will pass on to all of you.

“Enter this peaceful Memorial through the large red granite archway inscribed “In Honor of Our Men and Women that Gave Their Time and Lives to Preserve Our American Way of Life.” A circular garden, maintained by local Potter-Randall County Master Gardeners, is planted with red, white and blue flowers and is punctuated by large granite monoliths describing each war and confrontation. Beyond these are granite tablets featuring the names of those who died or are missing in action. In the center of the memorial, three poles proudly fly the American, Texas and Prisoner of War flags. A visit to the Texas Panhandle War memorial is an awe-inspiring experience and your opportunity to honor those who have protected the freedoms we all cherish.”

We got some great pictures of this memorial and I just think its one of the most beautiful and well designed memorial parks I have seen.

The rally we had there was also just awesome. We had a crowd of 30-40 which included past vets, and recent veterans returned form Iraq themselves. There was one gentleman who had a son who had actually died in Iraq in 2005 when the conflict was at it’s height of difficulty.