God Bless America!

Did you know that as of Aug 2011:

• There are 22.7 million military veterans in the US
• 39.1% of veterans are 65 or older
• 1.4% of veterans are under age 25
• 6 states account for 36% of the Veteran population in the US - California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio
• 8.1% of veterans are women but that percentage is projected to double in the next 25 years
• The average age of all veterans is 60
• The average age of Gulf War veterans is 37
• The average age of Vietnam War veterans is 60
• The average age of Korean War veterans is 76
• The average age of World War II veterans is 84

Pearl Harbor - 70 years later
Cleveland Seniors remember December 7, 1941

Inside the shrine room of the USS Arizona memorial in Pearl Harbor
To the Memory of the Gallant Men Here Entombed and their shipmates who gave their lives in action on December 7, 1941, on the U.S.S. Arizona" — inscription in marble with the names of Arizona's honored dead

USS Cleveland crew members with ship bell

John Philip Abizaid is a retired General in the United States Army and former Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle East. CENTCOM oversees 250,000 US troops.

Abizaid succeeded General Tommy Franks as Commander, USCENTCOM, on 7 July 2003, and was also elevated to the rank of four-star general the same week. He was succeeded by Admiral William J. Fallon on 16 March 2007.

General John P. Abizaid in Cleveland

David Beamer and Lucy Stickan

2011 Soldiers of the Year
Sergeant Eddie Horne and Sergeant Johanna Wright