Sometimes as we look for good things to report on we forget that in our own backyard we have plenty of gems. One of those gems is Pete Mecca.

Mecca, a veteran of the Vietnam conflict, came to us a couple of years offering to write stories about the lives of veterans in our community.

His stories of the valor and courage of the folks in our community who put their lives on the line so that we may enjoy this Fourth of July weekend are thought provoking and heartwarming. His stories of the World War II veterans are a last chance for us to revel in the accomplishments of our Greatest Generation. He has made it his life's mission capture as many of those life stories as possible.

Pete is finally being recognized for his efforts nationally by such groups as the American Legion and VFW. He just wrote a major story that appears this month edition of Georgia Magazine.

On this Fourth of July weekend we salute Pete Mecca and we thank him for keeping alive the notion that without the veterans he so ably writes about, you would not be reading this editorial today.