We've been so busy this summer, I don't even know where to start, so I'll start with September 11. Terri and I went to Jackson, NJ to attend the Sean Hannity Freedom Concert.

This was the last of five concerts that Sean hosted this year to raise money for the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund, and we had a great time. The trip up was rainy so we checked into our hotel when we got there and waited the rain out. The concert was to start at 7:00 pm and by about 5:30 the rain had cleared, so we grabbed something to eat and headed to Six Flags. Getting into the park was easy, but the line to get into the stadium was rather long. We managed to get seats though, and waited for things to start.

If you aren't into talk radio and politics, you may not know who some of these people I'm about to mention are. Of course Sean hosted the event, and he was joined by Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Ollie North, Rudy Guiliani, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, and Curtis Sliwa. There was plenty of liberal bashing, and I'm sure that if you are a liberal you would not leave feeling good about either yourself or the event. I personally enjoyed being surrounded by 15,000 people that think pretty much the way I do.

Before the concert I had taken a couple of pictures of a couple that had a rather large banner supporting the troops. They came up to our level with their banner, and of course I had on my "Gulf War Veteran" hat on. The lady pointed me out to another guy that had a shopping bag, and came over to shake my hand. The guy gave me one of those little gift boxes, about hand sized, like you might get at a wedding. it was tied in a pretty silver bow, and inside, wrapped in tissue, was a small heart-shaped ornament that was painted like the U.S. flag, and it has tied to it a not that reads "Stars and Stripes Forever, You'll Be In Our Hearts." There was also a copy of a hand written note that thanks her father for inspiring her to make her best effort to thank every veteran she can for their service. It was one of the highlights of the day for me.

The entertainment lineup included Lee Greenwood, who of course finished with "Proud to be an American" that he had a little help with. Like 15,000 people singing it, see above photo. I had to call my friends jay and Gail to share, and judging by the number of cell phones lit up, apparently about 10,000 other people had similar thoughts. LeAnn Rimes came next, and although I don't care for her style, her dedication to the cause and to her country came through very clearly and sincerely.

The final act was Montgomery Gentry. Country music really isn't my thing, but these guys put on a great show and really rocked the place out. None of these acts are chosen randomly, and these guys came across as strong patriots and big supporters of the military.

I'd like to go again next year, and I'd like to share it with Jay and Gail because I think they would really enjoy it as well. The trip home was uneventful, so there's nothing more to report except to say that if I can say that I enjoyed driving 200+ miles each way to go and listen to a country music concert, it had to have been a great experience!