I just returned from a week-long trip to Israel as a guest of the American Israel Education Foundation, which invited me to join 15 other Veterans from the South Western United States on this amazing experience. While I knew that Israel was a small country, I was not prepared for how truly small it was or the proximity it had to other players in the region.

We were a mix of Veterans from the Army, Marines Navy and Air Force and it did not take long for the inter service barbs to start flying back and forth nor did it take us long to feel right at home with one another. Our first two day were spent in Jerusalem with the next two in Tel Aviv, one night at a Kibbutz in northern Israel close toe the Lebanese Border then back to Jerusalem prior to returning home. Along the way we visited three Kibbutzem, saw the Sea of Galilee (more like a lake), crossed the River Jordan (size of an irrigation canal), floated in the Dead Sea and went to the top of the Masada Fortress. We met folks from all walks of life including retired Generals, Intelligence Officials, Muslims, Jews, Christians and even those who were more secular.

It really was an eye-opening experience and certainly provided a better understanding of the multicultural environment and the proximity of everything. This is exemplified in the photo I have that shows the ethnic/religious make up of Lebanon (below). More pictures will be forth coming but here is an item that meant a lot to me. A young paratrooper presented me with his Israeli jump wings after we spent a great dinner talking about life in the IDF and I gave him my VFW Post 1 Pin.