On Our "Virtual Route 99" With Month-End #RandomThoughts

Our team chose this UNESCO Concert from 2025, led by the Iranian Composer Arash Fouladvand for this month-end close-out as we look forward to the continued privilege to serve:

On Our "Virtual Route 99" With #RandomThoughts On #IranRevolution2026

Our team pulled together a sampling of the discourse on Iran as it is in the midst of #IranRevolution2026 with reports of over 16,000 deaths and over 300,000 people who have been injured:

 

 

 

 

 

On Our "Virtual Route 99": On Iran as it is in the midst of a Revolution

 Iran is in the midst of a Revolution.   Our team pulled together a snapshot of Iran courtesy the team at Al Jazeera:

On Our "Virtual Route 99" (Special Edition): A Tribute to the Iranian People

 

Iran is one of the world’s oldest civilizations and the birthplace of human rights, first articulated over 2,500 years ago by Cyrus the Great. However, Iran’s enduring importance and resilience have always flowed from something deeper: Iranians and Iranian culture. Across centuries of hardship, upheaval, invasion, and injustice, Iranians have always prevailed, not because of power or politics, but because of our art, poetry, music, philosophy, language, and collective memory. Iranian culture has been the vessel that has carried our values forward when institutions have failed. It has always preserved our identity when freedom was denied and has paved the way to self-determination, keeping meaning and coherence alive in the darkest times. Thank you to the Iranian people for what you have given the world through culture, literature, art, and for your enduring belief in human dignity. May you always shine brightly as the true representatives of our culture.

On Our "Virtual Route 99" : A Tribute to Medal of Honor Winners

 

The Medal of Honor is our Nation’s highest award for valor in action, above and beyond the call of duty, against enemies which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Since its inception during the American Civil War, only 3,508 brave service members have distinguished themselves and been awarded the medal, and as of today 66 are living.   The Army Heritage Center Foundation was honored in 2020 to present a seven-part webinar series that focused on the shared values and qualities of all recipients - courage, commitment, sacrifice, citizenship, integrity, and patriotism. Seven Medal of Honor recipients discussed how these qualities and our American values can be practiced and how each can be exemplified in daily life.   During the series, these American Heroes shared lessons of personal bravery and self-sacrifice.  They defined leadership, leadership traits, how they overcame obstacles, and reflected on different experiences that demonstrate commitment and understanding sacrifice to others.    Recordings of these videos are now available online thanks to a donation from the Pritzker Military Foundation.  Dedicated to honoring the Citizen Soldier, the Pritzker Military Foundation makes these recordings available so the general public and students across the country can learn that there are still heroes among us, and ordinary people can meet significant challenges and make the world around them a better place. Sergeant Gary Beikirch, U.S. Army Topic: The Medal of Honor and applications of core values in our lives Beikirch

Corporal Hershel (Woody) Williams, U.S. Marines Topic: Courage        Williams 1st Lieutenant Jack Jacobs, U.S. Army Topic: Citizenship Jacobs Private First Class Sammy Davis, U.S. Army Topic: Patriotism Davis Staff Sergeant David Bellavia, U.S. Army      Topic: Commitment Bellavia Specialist Four Robert Patterson, U.S. Army Topic: Integrity Patterson 2nd Lieutenant Walter (Joe) Marm, U.S. Army Topic: Sacrifice Marm