In recent blog postings, I have been writing about the B&B’s for Vets program in which over 900 inns opened their doors and their hearts to, literally, thousands of veterans this past Veterans Day.
When I ran into Dallas and Nancy Renner, owners of the Chocolate Turtle B&B in Corrales, NM, at the PAII convention in Charleston this week, they relayed a follow-up story to their experience with the program.
They were recontacted by one of the active service families that had stayed with them that night wishing to stop by and offer a gift. It brings tears to my eyes when I ponder the depth of the message this young Air Force sergeant was offering. After 
exchanging pleasantries and verbal appreciation for the Turtle honoring vets on Veteran’s Day, the couple, Master Sgt Jody Martinez (Air National Guard) and his wife Sarah (photo here), presented to the Renners a flag that had flown in a combat mission in Iraq in November, 2010.
We all owe our appreciation to our veterans and active military service men and women in harm’s way all over the world. And here this Air Force family was expressing their thoughtfulness to the Chocolate Turtle and the hospitality that Dallas and Nancy had offered.
Seems bass-ackwards, doesn’t it? We owe everything…our freedom, our way of life, our stature in the world…to these servicemen and women. And they offer such heartfelt appreciation to us for the (relatively) insignificant things we can do for them.
Scott
