Perhaps there's no greater way to express our love of our country then to display our public spirit.

To that end, the Carbon County Veterans Council will hold a "Show of Patriotism" rally from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Palmerton Veterans Memorial, Palmerton Town Green, Delaware Avenue.All veterans are welcome to attend. Those who do are urged to wear their uniform, hat, and bring a flag.Henry Desrosiers, director of Carbon County Veterans Affairs, said the purpose behind the rally is two-fold."It evolved in regards to the government shutdown; what the government did in regard to shutting down our national parks and our national memorials, and particularly denying our World War II veterans from getting to their memorial in Washington," Desrosiers said. "It's a bad thing that the government did to our veterans."The other intent, Desrosiers noted, is to spread the word that the Carbon County Veterans Day Parade will be held on Sunday, Nov. 10 in Lehighton."We want to get the message out, and we want people to be spectators and patriotic, and come see the parade so they can come show their patriotism and thank the veterans for Veterans Day and for what they did and for the rights they gave us today," he said. "All of us our proud of what we did; we're proud of our service."Harry J. Wynn III, senior vice commander of the American Legion 30th District in Carbon County, said the rally is being held because "We want to show them by a public display that we are supporting our veterans to let them know we are behind them.""We were concerned with a couple of items; how our World War II veterans were treated at their memorial (during the government shutdown)," Wynn said. "It was disgraceful they were not allowed to see their memorial."In addition, Wynn said the group is concerned also about members of the military who were killed overseas during the shutdown."They were killed in action," he said. "They are really our heroes."Wynn added that the rally will essentially kick off a week-and-a-half of Veterans Day activities.From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9, the Law Offices of William G. Schwab and Associates will prepare wills, living wills and power of attorney, to all veterans at the Lehighton American Legion Post 314.The following day, Sunday, Nov. 10, is the Carbon County Veterans Day Parade in Lehighton.