Memorial Day

rusty baker

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"I'm twisted, not sick. Sick implies, I'll get better"
Semi-Retired Installer
Installing since 1973

oh'mike

A special thought for my high school friends that served---Mike---

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New members: Adding your location to your profile helps in many ways.--M--

Leah Frances

Granddaughter of a WWII.
Daughter of a Vietnam Vet.
Friend of a Gulf War Vet.
Cousin to an Afghanistan Vet.

And GRATEFUL EVERY DAY for their service.

DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI.

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If I could only remember to THINK about what I was doing before I did it.

Willie T

Yes, but better to LIVE for it.

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"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and only that which is."
François Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Willie T

Leah Frances

Amen.

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If I could only remember to THINK about what I was doing before I did it.

rossfingal

Leave an empty chair at the table for the Memorial Day barbeque/festivities,
for the one's that aren't with us!
Where-ever they are!

rossfingal

Willie T

My wife and I went to a ceremony this morning at a large VA cemetery.
After the National Anthem was sung as it SHOULD be sung, not the way the Super bowl glory hounds butcher it, and a “fly-by” of two F-15’s, there wasn’t a dry eye in the 3,000 seats.
Something stirred within me to turn around. I did, and saw another vet wiping his eyes. Being raised not to embarrass people unnecessarily, I turned forward again.
The next time I looked he was gone.
At the end of the service we were standing talking with a mutual friend when I spied the same vet across the green. A big man, twenty years younger than me, with the look of a soldier I would have liked to have had in combat with me. He was about thirty yards away.
I excused myself and walked toward him through the thinning crowd.
We made eye contact about ten feet away.
I extended my hand. He took it. I said “I didn’t want to disturb you during the Fly-by.”
We instantly pulled each other into a strong hug.
He said “God bless you!”, and we nodded and parted ways.
I recently posted the words to Hey Jude here in another thread… “It’s a fool who plays it cool by making his world a little colder.”
Today a deeper meaning of those lyrics was burned upon my heart.
My new momentary friend was there alone. No one to share that tear with. Something helped me reach out and bridge the distance. I’ll never know if perhaps it was one of his fallen comrades or one of mine, or what I know as God, or just what it might have been. But I know that by listening to the silent impulse pulling at my soul to go to him, we are both a little richer this afternoon.

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"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and only that which is."
François Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Willie T

Leah Frances

My Dad served in Vietnam. Only a month or two ago, a man at a bar thanked him for his service. My Dad said it was the first time he remembered anyone saying it.

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If I could only remember to THINK about what I was doing before I did it.

Willie T

I guess it's nothing to be proud of, but the closest I have ever come to truly hating a collective group was during that era. Some of those draft dodging cowards made me sick to look at them protesting brave men defending the hippie's 'right' to stand on a street corner running them down.

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"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and only that which is."
François Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Willie T

WirelessG

It's sad when people protest the troops. You can disagree with the war, but don't blame it on the troops - that's just the act of a child in a temper tantrum.

hyunelan2

My grandfather was in WWII - USAAC at Pearl Harbor. He was an MP that guarded our first jets as they made their way to the Pacific theater.

My other grandfather was also involved in WWII - Merchant Marine. He was on a barge that was sabotaged and blew up. A Croation man found a bomb on the boat and warned my grandfather and they jumped off the barge. That is how my father got the unusual name of "Nylan," in honor of the man that saved my grandfather's life. Later, after the war, he was on the tug that brought the captured German U505 submarine to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

My uncle was a West Point graduate, and combat photographer in Korea - he was very thankful to not have also been sent to Vietnam.

My father was too young to serve in Vietnam, and was one of the first in our family not to be involved in some way with the military. He was just about positive that he would be drafted to go to Vietnam, but the war ended before that happened. Growing up, my neighbor across the street was a Huey pilot in Vietnam, and my next-door neighbor was a helicopter gunner. Both had Purple Hearts.

I planned to attend West Point, and went as far as getting the congressional nomination to do so, but did not. It was probably a good thing, as I developed type 1 diabetes at 19, would not have been medically fit for combat, and would have been discharged. My younger brother has just graduated college, but with a lack of jobs and huge student loan debt, he is considering seeking a commission in the Army.

Numerous friends of mine have been in Iraq and Afghanistan. A lot of college buddies who joined the reserves and guard to have them pay for school while they did their "one weekend a month" ended up spending a lot of time overseas. When we started school [pre-9/11], nobody thought there would ever be a reason to deploy. A friend of mine in grad-school just got back from a year in Afghanistan as part of a reserve deployment with Psy-Ops.

I have been very lucky to have never lost a friend or relative during their service. I'm probably one of the most passionate people for veterans and service members to have never served. In my book, there is no higher honor than sacrificing for your country.