In honor of Memorial Day, I have put online a video tribute I created to remember those who have served and defended the United States in the armed forces. You may view it at my Veterans Tribute (www.jesusredeemed.us/tribute) site.

To give a little background history, I originally created it about four years ago. A WWII bomber pilot veteran, Carl Fritsche, was speaking at an event. I was asked to make a video tribute honoring veterans to be shown after his speech. I’ve revised it a couple times over the past four years (with the object of improving it, of course ;) ).

By the way, an interesting note is that one of the operations Mr. Fritsche’s bomber group carried out was bombing the railway bridges the Japanese were building in Thailand across what I believe may have been the Kwae river (as portrayed in the film The Bridge on the River Kwae).

Hi Christopher,

That's a really nice tribute you've produced. Thank you for sharing it.

I think you'd want to know this: I'm pretty sure there's a specific order you're to use when giving honor like this to the Armed Forces. I believe you're supposed to start with the Coast Guard, then Navy, Air Force, Army, Marines. Might want to check it out. :)

Just my personal taste here, but I'd shorten the space between songs, plus maybe put the phrases forming complete sentences together in the text portions. It would be a smoother read, and you don't really need the extra time or emphasis.

The photos you've obtained are magnificent! Thanks again!!!

I don't know if the march protocol is what you are looking for, but this is it:
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The order that military organizations appear in the order of march is spelled out by military regulations. Assuming representatives are present the order is as follows: Cadets, U.S. Military Academy, Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy, Cadets, U.S. Air Force Academy, Cadets, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Midshipmen, U.S. Merchant marine Academy, U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Naval Reserve, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, Coast Guard Reserve, Other training organizations of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard in that Order, respectively.

During any period when the U.S. Coast Guard operates as a part of the U.S. Navy, the cadets, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Reserve take precedence, respectively, next after the midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Navy, and the Naval Reserve.
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I could not find a list for tributes.

Former SSG Steven Gotz, US Army 1978-1985

Lorinda,

Thanks for the compliments and suggestions. And thanks goes to Steve for the march order. Looks like I may need to revise the tribute yet again. :-)

...and you didn't even ask for suggestions! :) Usually, I don't offer critiques; it's just that this sort of thing is pretty dear to my heart. You did a very good job.

About the order, I just remember two different occasions when it came up. One was a graduation where the band director arranged a medley and discovered a traditional order. The other was last year on a Fourth of July presentation televised from Washington DC. The man providing commentary, I believe it was Tom Brokaw, noted that there is a protocol for the order. Wish I could remember it with certainty.

At any rate, it's not like it's critical or anything. Thanks again, Christopher, for sharing your video on this day.

p.s. to Steven: Thank you. :)

Lorinda,

Your comment about the band director arranging a medley jogged my memory. I remembered running across an armed services medley when searching for the music to use in my tribute. Sure enough, a little digging turned up an Armed Forces Medley (http://www.usafband.com/recording_view.cfm?movementID=75) on the Web site of the United States Air Force Band (http://www.usafband.com). The order of the service branches' songs within the medley is as follows:

Army
Marine Corps
Navy
Coast Guard
Air Force

Really! So much for my faulty memory. I asked my son about it (Army) and he said if anything he figured the Army would be first because it's the oldest. Thanks for setting me straight on that, Christopher. :)

I was sitting on the floor of a mockup of the Capital building at Epcot Center at Disney World in Orlando Florida yesterday, listening to pariotic songs being sung A Capella by a fabulous group of singers. They did a song that listed it as Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines. A little embarrassing because they asked veterans to stand up as their branch was called. I stodd and was the only former Army guy in the room. That was odd. However, there were lots of Air Force and Navy and a couple of Marines, so when their turn came up it was a little less embarrassing for us all.

They did a song that listed it as Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines.
Hmm, that's interesting. Maybe there is actually no set order?

A little embarrassing because they asked veterans to stand up as their branch was called. I stodd and was the only former Army guy in the room.
An "army of one", eh? ;-)

Thank you, Bob Safay USAF (1967-1971).

Thank you for your service.

Frank Davenport US Army 1965-1969.

You're welcome. I'm honored that I could pay tribute to you and your service.