It was 10 years ago that Colorado filmmaker Larry Cappetto first came to the East Valley to interview combat veterans for his series of World War II documentaries.

Now that President Obama’s reelection has been finalized by his inauguration, has Ted Nugent relocated out of the country yet?

On a sun-splashed Higley High School football field blanketed with a warm autumn breeze on Friday, more than 3,000 people came to celebrate military veterans for their service and sacrifices they made through the decades for the freedoms we enjoy today that did not come for free.

Jack Jarzynka had driven past American Legion Post 39 in Gilbert “about 100 times,” so one Saturday night after he and his wife, Kathy, had dinner about six years ago, he decided to stop in for a 1950s and 60s dance.

“Isn’t it ironic that the very same hippies, anarchists and flower children of the 1970’s (and now their grown up daughters) are exactly what they accused the returning Vietnam War veterans of being: ‘baby killers’. There were 1,300,000 living, human fetuses who were killed in their mother’s womb in 2011. The Vietnam veterans were never proud of having to kill civilians during the war. The ‘baby killers’, on the other hand, are proud of it. They call themselves, ‘pro-choice’.”

A heartfelt tradition in Gilbert of honoring military veterans who made sacrifices throughout the years to protect the freedoms we enjoy today has become so large that it will continue to be held at a larger venue.

Editor's Note: These letters to the editor have been sorted by topic by the Tribune editorial staff in an effort to allow readers to read varied opinions on the issues, candidates, and other circumstances surrounding the 2012 general election. These submissions are the opinions of the author, not the Tribune, and have not been edited for grammar or content.

Peering through the new prescription glasses he just got from the veterans hospital, Korean War veteran Gilbert Torres sifted through a stack of papers detailing claims he’d had pending with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs since July 2011.

The American Legion Auxiliary is a remarkable organization with nearly one million women across the country. We are the largest women’s patriotic service organization in the nation, devoted to America’s veterans, young people and communities. You may have seen us passing out our trademark crepe poppies, which are handmade by disabled veterans.

Mitt Romney’s foreign policy is about what you should expect from someone who evaded the Vietnam military draft by hiding out as a minister of religion — in France, no less. Like most Chickenhawks, as soon as the shooting stopped, Mitt suddenly became chest-beatingly aggressive, hoping that people might forget that he showed the white feather when it came time to stand up for his country.

Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn. -- General Douglas MacArthur, Thayer Award Speech, 1962

Serving our country through the military is a great honor and our soldiers deserve to be treated with utmost respect. That is why I often write about the importance of supporting and honoring our military personnel.

“Don’t you sometime wonder where people’s hearts are? We have an epidemic of homeless Vietnam war veterans and now Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans too. Many carry physical and psychological wounds they suffered in defense of our country. That’s why you have to wonder how people can donate to homeless dog, cats and horse shelters, while these veterans are left to fend for themselves on the street.”

In 1967, Hank Williams Jr. turned 18 and his country was at war. Married men with as many as four children were serving in the Vietnam War, and casualties were high. Hank decided to show the white feather and stayed at home studying music instead of serving his country.

WASHINGTON – It was a sweltering-hot day in the nation’s capital, but the only thing the members of the Gilbert High School marching band could talk about was how cool it was.

“Donald Trump is at it again with his birtherism hog call. The polls say all my followers, to arms! To arms!”