A salute to our veterans: World War II

Anyone who knows one, who is related to one, who works with one, or who is one knows this intuitively. They often are the silent glue that binds our communities. They often serve long after their service, lead after they've led, give after they gave.

They also are often forgotten.

There are 24 million veterans in America. They live among us, everywhere, and they share a profound bond only they fully understand.

Today we present to you stories of veterans from throughout the Southland whom we had the privilege of meeting at local VA health care centers.

Theirs are stories we believe need to be told.