Every year at this time I get sentimental.  With Veterans Day weekend upon us, it always takes me back to my family.  I am a proud member of a military family where I learned from a very early age how much respect and admiration we owe our vets.  My dad, the REAL Mayor T. Hamilton Kennedy was a proud Marine who survived being shot in the Marine Corps bloodiest battle in the Pacific.  He was awarded the Purple Heart for his battle wounds on Pelilou, a small island where the Marines fought the Japanese and where we lost too many of our best.  My uncle NYS Supreme Court Justice Robert P. Kennedy was a bomber pilot who flew many harrowing missions. Growing up, my dad and uncle rarely spoke about what they saw and went through, but when they did it gave me a greater appreciation for the sacrifice that our military makes for our freedom.  I would tour the VA Medical Center in my hometown of Canandaigua and meet the soldiers who gave so much of themselves with little reward.  To this day I can't believe how many of our young willingly go off to sacrifice for America.  Everyday there is a kid who volunteers to go off with the possibility of never returning to his or her family.  Please take a moment and think about them this weekend, thank a vet and share a moment of appreciation.  I am honored to be heading south Saturday night to be Master of Ceremonies at the Veterans Day Dinner for the Walter Klein Post of the American Legion in Warsaw NY. I've been lucky to be part of this ceremony for a few years now, and I am grateful to meet such heroes, humble men and women who don't want the spotlight or fame, like my friend Cmdr. Dan Walczak of the Warsaw Legion. These are just everyday folks who gave of themselves for us and I salute each one, as I thank every vet who has sacrificed in their own way. God bless our troops this Veterans Day weekend!