PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The name of their group is quite simple: Sharing and Caring. For 28 years in Pittsburgh, that’s exactly what they have been doing for our veterans.

To celebrate and honor the veterans, organizers throw a party on the Gateway Clipper Fleet.

“Even though I am semi-paralyzed, even though I am the way I am, I am going to try and get up and dance if I could find Marilyn Monroe,” World War II Veteran Martin Brodsky said.

Brodsky is one of nearly 300 hospitalized veterans who sailed today as Sharing and Caring said a simple thank you.

“A lot of them frankly have been forgotten by their families because of the time that’s involved. So, we bring them here, we entertain them, we feed them just to let them know that they are not forgotten,” volunteer Frank Lopes said.

They got to sail and head out on a grand day for a celebration of years of service of nearly 1,000 men and women.

And their stories are all unique and captivating.

“They had Stuka bombers bombing us constantly. It was the rainy season. We were sleeping in foxholes full of water. How I survived, I don’t know. It beats me,” Brodsky said.

He survived that battle and four other major ones in World War II. Today, he’s one of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines being honored.

“They are truly dedicated to freedom and they are making so many sacrifices that we don’t realize and we really need to think about that,” Linda Komm from Kane Nursing Home said.

“Being a veteran myself, and knowing what many of these gentleman and ladies now have gone through it’s very, very important that they are not forgotten,” Auditor General Jack Wagner said.

Those like Brodsky will make sure that never happens.

“I’m [going to] live like these postage stamps, forever,” Brodsky said.

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