The following message was made possible by the veterans who fought and died to protect our liberties.

As a matter of fact, whatever you were doing at 11 a.m. on Monday was made possible by veterans. But most of us know a lot more about "J-Lo'' than Anzio. We honor veterans by dropping the F-bomb in Saving Private Ryan on network TV, but I don't think that's the liberty they died for in the jungles of the South Pacific.

Real veterans don't talk about movies of D-Day. They lived it.

Under an Air Force-blue sky on an Indian summer gift of a day, those who will never forget gathered in Blue Ash to honor their fallen friends and family members.

It was not a big crowd, like the stampede to hear Bruce Springsteen sing about the tough life of a rock star.

Thinning ranks

It was a few hundred people, composed mostly of the group of World War II and Korean War veterans that seems to shrink a little each year, like the fans of some performer who has gone out of style.

It made me wonder: Has patriotism gone out of style? Is it too corny to show up on Veterans Day and thank the men who sacrificed everything to give us the luxury of amnesia?

Some people wince and roll their eyes when it's time to salute the flag, like children who are asked to say a dinner prayer.

They need to spend a few minutes with some veterans. Just ask them what the day means.

"To me, it's for all the sacrifices of all the guys in the service who gave their lives so we can be free and have the country we have,'' said Pat DiLonardo, a Korean War veteran from Reading.

Standing at his side was another Korean War veteran from Reading, Al Kretschmar. He said, "It means a lot of people made a lot of sacrifices so that we could worship anywhere we want to, so that we can send our children to any school we want to.''

`Very, very proud'

A few yards away, near the bronze statue of a Vietnam soldier, was Harry Reilman, 78, a Navy veteran of World War II. I asked how he felt when the salute was fired at 11 a.m. "Very, very proud,'' he said. "It makes my heart just pound.''

Robert Crawford of Walnut Hills flew with the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. "It's a day I will never forget,'' he said.

The speaker was Col. Barbara Rounds-Kugler, a nurse who served in Vietnam. She asked all the World War II veterans to raise their hands, and the old men proudly lifted their arms above the crowd. "These are the heroes of the world,'' she said. "They saved the world for us.''

The cannon fired, and I jumped like a hooked fish. Children from Green Elementary read their touching poetry. And as we stood on the bricks that bear the names of the sons, fathers and brothers who were buried in foreign lands like markers for the boundaries of freedom, "Taps'' was played.

Many Americans may be out of touch with moments like that.

But no, patriotism is never out of style. It's never too late to thank a veteran.

E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.