I missed the parade this morning. Instead, Tim, Gordon, Pam, Brenda, Shelby and I headed over to the Veterans Conference to hear the Ia Drang Valley guys -- General Hal Moore, Joe Galloway, and the rest of the crew ... Crandall, Forrest, Herrin, Beck and a few others. Crandall was awared the Medal of Honor earlier this year. Gen. Moore had surgery at Houston Clinic this past summer but is doing well. Joe teared up so many times I had to quit looking at him because he would get me going.

Joe moderated the panel, gave each person about 5 minutes to speak. It was the words of Bill Beck that tore me & I think Joe up the most. Beck said he had the hardest time dealing with the memories of the men he lost. He said it wasn't until recently that someone said to him that he ought to consider all the men he saved. Forrest, who is renowned for that fastest 600 meter dash ever unrecorded during the middle of a firefight, said it wasn't until he thought of the ones he saved that he could come to terms with the ones he lost. Since I'm the daughter of the lost one, I so just want to reach out to these men and tell them to let go of the demons, that I know they tried their best. Barbara Johns was there with her son Bob. It was great to see them.

I wish each and everyone of you had been there to hear General Moore answer the question posed to him about what makes a great leader. "Ask yourself what one more thing can I do. Think. There's always one more thing you can do," he said. Then be prepared for the adversity that life -- in and out of battle -- will bring your way, because hard times will come. Then, he added, "Three years ago I lost my wife of 63 years. You want to know what adversity is? It's walking in the door to an empty house."

Then, General Moore dropped his head into his hands and wept in front of the crowd. Only the lasting lvoe of a remarkable woman could reduce a General like Hal Moore to such tears. "He finally understands what all those war widows have gone through," someone in the crowd said.

General Moore defines integrity and character.

Other highlights of the past few days:

 * Gordon hugging me after Angela read her father's name. "You made this happen for me. Thank you for that."

* Touring the NPR DC office after recording a piece for All Things Considered with Alice Winkler. Had the joy of editing the piece alongside Martha Wexler in her office.

* Lunch at Bankok Joe with former Vietnam Veteran John Dibble after we met with the National Historic Trust to discuss the new memorial center plans.

* Hearing Shelby recount the story of killing the groundhog at Gordon's.

* Meeting photographer Larry Powell, who was the first to document the offerings at the Wall.

* Running into Vivianne Wersel, Marine widow, moments before she read names at the Wall.

* Speaking to the girls at Trinity University, and helping them understand that the things we face as women does not change that much, despite the passing of time.

* Shelby getting an afternoon coffee date with an Italian war veteran that she met on the Mall. Ciao!

* Eating dinner at Italian Cafe two nights in a row, with the best bunch of veterans.

* Hanging in the hospitality room with the men who served in my father's division, the 25th Infantry.

* Giving Tim grief about his missed flights and about anything else I can dream up.

* Getting picked up by a guy half my age in the hotel bar because he's three sheets to the wind, or suffering from congential blindness.