Monday was Memorial Day, and since I had no other plans I decided to head east of Pueblo to grab some footage of the Arkansas river at flood stage. I’m working on a documentary about the Arkansas river, and footage of it flooding might be useful as I try to explain how this precious, over-tapped resource occasionally delivers more water than anyone wants or needs. I grabbed a few shots at the bridge at Avondale and then continued east towards Rocky Ford.
On my way I noticed a small crowd beginning to gather at the Fowler Cemetery. With American flags flying, and Boy Scouts and veterans of war in uniform, it quickly occurred to me that this was a Memorial Day observance at the local cemetery. Since I wasn’t on a schedule I decided to stop and grab a few quick shots. As I moved through the crowd I saw young and old, mostly ranchers and farmers, turning out to honor those who died fighting for freedom. They sang patriotic songs, a local minister delivered an inspirational speech, and the local Boy Scouts raised the flag…to which the crowd recited the pledge of allegiance.
After returning home a few hours later I edited a short piece that attempted to capture this little slice of America…and a scene that I’m sure was repeated in hundreds, if not thousands, of small towns across America. KOAA-TV used a portion of it in their 10pm newscast and uploaded the entire video to their Facebook page where it attracted more than 17,000 views, 570 likes, and 182 shares in the first 12 hours.
https://youtu.be/6T1mKhvU4yM
This is Amazing to see, being a veteran its nice to know that people appreciate the sacrifice that others do to maintain our freedom.It’s awesome to see how quickly a video put together by a single person can quickly transend to so many outlets, from small town America to a blog, to the local news and across faceook.Nice Job…
It is good to see the the small towns still have patriotism, with all the hustle and bustle of the big city people get lost and forget about the men and women who have served, They don’t realize that freedom is not free. Although the media does a decent job informing us, how many people really give thanks for the men and women whom served this great country. Is good to see that the local news station broadcast this video. The news stations need to do a better job of broadcasting good news not bad news.