As governor when I visited our troops in Kuwait and Iraq I served them Thanksgiving dinner. It was a small gesture compared to their sacrifice.

From 1971 onwards the Memorial Day holiday was officially observed on the last Monday in May and became the unofficial start of the summer with barbecues blockbuster movie openings and mattress sales.

According to an ancient Sardinian legend the bodies of those who are born on Christmas Eve will never dissolve into dust but are preserved until the end of time.

Women are always most observed when they seem themselves least to observe or to lay out for observation.

To honor our national promise to our veterans we must continue to improve services for our men and women in uniform today and provide long overdue benefits for the veterans and military retirees who have already served.

Whenever we have thanked these men and women for what they have done for us without exception they have expressed gratitude for having the chance to help - because they grew as they served.

I probably wouldn't be a songwriter if I didn't grow up the way I did. It was difficult and it was at times very scary to grow up in a household so unsettled and at times very violent. But it also I guess it earned me a sort of wisdom at a young age that's served me well.

When I had a job catering I catered a wedding for the Smashing Pumpkins bassist in Indiana. And I served Billy Corgan shrimp off a tray.

I couldn't be happier that President Bush has stood up for having served in the National Guard because I can finally put an end to all those who questioned my motives for enlisting in the Army Reserve at the height of the Vietnam War.

Dalton's records carefully preserved for a century were destroyed during the World War II bombing of Manchester. It is not only the living who are killed in war.