E R N I E ' S   H O U S E   O F   W H O O P A S S

Ernie, Long time reader and fan. I have attached a number of photos taken recently in our community out here in Stevenson Ranch California, a small suburb of Los Angeles. One of our young men, a neighbor of mine since he was in elementary school, did not make it back from Afghanistan. From what we have heard, he was manning the .50 cal topside in a Humvee that was hit by an IED. He was the only one killed and was usually the driver not the gunner. According to another neighbor who did three combat tours in Iraq (and is like a son to me), he and a few of his fellow Marines made such an impression on Ian at a block party our street threw honoring them on their return from the first combat tour, Ian joined up and became a paratrooper. On the day of the procession it was estimated that 5,000 to 6,000 people lined the streets for the procession. Our community totals about 10,000 and just in sight of these photos I estimated 1000 to 2000 people young and old. Here is also a link to our local paper and a story on the day. Most touching was the addition of dozens of the small flags at the community entrance and in front of the Gelig household as folks walked home. Based on your hard work on LBEH and support of the troops, I thought you might be interested to see that even in Southern California we can come together to honor our heroes. One last thought on LBEH; last year I made a donation in honor of my Dad (a proud veteran) as a Christmas gift to him. Next year maybe you could market that aspect of potential donations. He was thrilled with the gift. Thanks for all of the hard work. Hope I did this right, my tech skills leave a lot to be desired. Paul A.

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