A Story Of Survival

Today and tomorrow we are having a "Day of Remembrance" for the victims and the heroes of 9/11.

There will be much said about the sacrifice made by so many on that day 10 yrs. ago, and much will be ballyhooed in the press and by the Washington elite on this day. That means nothing to me. I still carry those many feelings in my heart that I felt on that day, and I pray for those First Responders and the families of the fallen. Let this be as it may...I offer you the story of a SURVIVOR!

I would like to honor those US servicemen and women who have fought, and will continue to fight against an evil which would dominate us and our entire world. Tyranny, and oppression will always be at our very door, and must be fought at home and abroad. The names and the faces of evil have changed, but the battle is still raging.

Here is a short piece I discovered last month about the sacrifice made by one incredible man. His amazing ability to survive and prosper against all odds should be an inspiration to us all...

Albert "Doc" Brown was almost 40 when he was forced by Japanese soldiers to make the infamous 65-mile Bataan Death March to a POW camp along with thousands of other American GIs in 1942. Suffering wounds and broken bones, Brown survived years as a prisoner, but a doctor told him not to expect to make it to 50.

He made it to 105, dying this weekend (one month ago) in a Nashville nursing home, the Associated Press reports.

Brown suffered beatings, torture, a bayonet wound, a broken back and neck, and malaria, dengue fever, dysentery and about a dozen other tropical diseases as a Japanese prisoner during WWII.

"Doc's story had as much relevance for today's wounded warriors as it did for the veterans of his own era," said Kevin Moore, co-author of the recently released "Forsaken Heroes of the Pacific War: One Man's True Story," which details Brown's experience.

"The underlying message for today's returning veterans is that there's hope, not to give in no matter how bleak the moment may seem," Moore said. "You will persevere and can find the promise of a new tomorrow, much like Doc had found."

Read his amazing story at the Omaha World Herald.