A day of remembrance of men and women this country and families sorely lost. A day of celebration of the men and women that did come back and tried to make this country great.
13 thoughts on “Memorial Day, a Day of Honor.”
I remember my Dad, my Uncles, who served in WW2 and my brother who served in Vietnam and now have died. My Dad entered in 43 at 17 into the Marines and was island hopping until Okinawa when he was severely injured and spent a year in a Naval Hospital and the scars and wounds lasted his whole life.
My one Uncle was on the USS Missouri from the start to 1947 and the other was with Patton in Europe and then again after D-day, but they never were injured. My brother who is 6 years older than me was drafted into the army, spent 3 years in Vietnam most of the time in the Rangers. He was sent home after the second time he was wounded and his unit was wiped out, but he survived. He came home after getting out of the Hospital and spent a month at home before he returned to duty at Ft Hood. He spent another 3 years in the Rangers before he left the Army and became a long haul Trucker. He was later killed in a crash.
My Dad, my Uncles, and my Brother would never talk about their times in war. What I learned of my Dad’s time was due to him talking with his best friend who served in the Marines with him. What I learned of my brother’s time was due to a friend who served in the same Ranger unit lived a city over from us but left Vietnam a year earlier and would come to visit him when he was in town so they could talk.
Memorial Day is for the dead on the field but also for the ones that served as they have brought home scars shown and scars not shown.
May God bless all who served keep and comfort them may his grace and mercy be upon them, may his love abide in their hearts and minds that they shall have peace, especially those who showed the greatest love of all
Every day should be Memorial Day.
To us Veterans, every day is Memorial Day.
May God grant His mercy on us for what we have become!
it was at Arlington where my dad was buried that we found out he had 2 navy cross for valor from his time in WW2. they did a big deal about it too.
they put mom up in the Wainwright house there and dinner.
she got to meet a lot of nice DIA guys there. they even got her tea.
my brother and BILs wore the army uniforms and I wore a suit.
there where 2 naval commanders to “help with things” as they called it.
one of them thought I was a spook or something ( I am not) but he asked me why no navy guys in the family. I told him my dad always called it ” the fucking navy”
he had a good laugh and said with all the medals he had, he could call it whatever he wanted to.
he used to shoot the bull with my uncle Jack, he was a Marine who served with “Chesty” at the “canal” to Pelieu and then taught the marines that went to Iwo.
after uncle Jack died, we found a box full of medals he had from his time in.
I miss talking with those two guys while having a beer on the porch.
My dad was the same, only way my brother and me after we had served could get him to talk about his service was after a few beers and only after we served would we understand, truly understand what he experienced. My dad flew Gen Patton around the European Theater for six months.
Unfortunately, my Dad would never discuss his time in Service. I never did find out how he, with only a High School diploma, went from a mechanic on B-17’s, B-24’s, and B-29’s to being a CWO-2 and doing Photo Interpretation for SAC.
Oh well, I’ll join him soon enough and we can reminisce. I can also talk to all my friends that didn’t make it back to Civilian life.
Requiescat in Pace, David Allen Higgs.
Let me begin by saying I’m not trying to denigrate anyone’s sacrifice, or service. I lost an uncle in Korea. But regarding the 3rd graphic, yes, they fought and died. Up until a few years ago, I would have agreed, for our country. Now I think more along the lines of Smedley Butler. War is a racket. I’m sure the vast majority of those that fought believed they were fighting for a righteous cause. So did most at home. That’s what we were told. To think otherwise was unpatriotic. But in light of the events of the past 2 or 3 decades, I’ve come to believe that we’ve been hoodwinked, bamboozled, scammed. Afghanistan? Iraq? Viet Nam? Ginned up by the CIA, et al. To be honest, I think that most of the US soldiers killed in foreign wars in the last 120 years died for political reasons and/or monetary gain of the MIC. Just imagine the difference in the socio/political landscape of the world, had Patton been allowed to do what needed to be done, and eliminate the Soviet threat in 1945.
Many will agree with you, but today is a day to remember the fallen, not a day to denigrate them for why they did what they did.
I’m not. All I’m saying is everyone was lied to. They believed, as did most people, that they were doing the right thing, for the right reasons. Then, as now, the government, and the media combined to push a false narrative.
We were all suckered snuffy
If not on the day their deaths are being remembered, then when? God knows nobody ever wants to deal with these realities. Even the groups that claim to help those who come back injured, etc NEVER want to speak out or in any way work to prevent the creation of more MIC victims.
my dad wanted me to go north to Canada instead of going in the army. and he did both WW2 and Korea.
he did earn 2 navy crosses for valor too in WW2.
and like 14 or 15 battle stars. he didn’t think much of war or why we where in Vietnam. and he sure did not trust anything they said.
I remember my Dad, my Uncles, who served in WW2 and my brother who served in Vietnam and now have died. My Dad entered in 43 at 17 into the Marines and was island hopping until Okinawa when he was severely injured and spent a year in a Naval Hospital and the scars and wounds lasted his whole life.
My one Uncle was on the USS Missouri from the start to 1947 and the other was with Patton in Europe and then again after D-day, but they never were injured. My brother who is 6 years older than me was drafted into the army, spent 3 years in Vietnam most of the time in the Rangers. He was sent home after the second time he was wounded and his unit was wiped out, but he survived. He came home after getting out of the Hospital and spent a month at home before he returned to duty at Ft Hood. He spent another 3 years in the Rangers before he left the Army and became a long haul Trucker. He was later killed in a crash.
My Dad, my Uncles, and my Brother would never talk about their times in war. What I learned of my Dad’s time was due to him talking with his best friend who served in the Marines with him. What I learned of my brother’s time was due to a friend who served in the same Ranger unit lived a city over from us but left Vietnam a year earlier and would come to visit him when he was in town so they could talk.
Memorial Day is for the dead on the field but also for the ones that served as they have brought home scars shown and scars not shown.
May God bless all who served keep and comfort them may his grace and mercy be upon them, may his love abide in their hearts and minds that they shall have peace, especially those who showed the greatest love of all
Every day should be Memorial Day.
To us Veterans, every day is Memorial Day.
May God grant His mercy on us for what we have become!
it was at Arlington where my dad was buried that we found out he had 2 navy cross for valor from his time in WW2. they did a big deal about it too.
they put mom up in the Wainwright house there and dinner.
she got to meet a lot of nice DIA guys there. they even got her tea.
my brother and BILs wore the army uniforms and I wore a suit.
there where 2 naval commanders to “help with things” as they called it.
one of them thought I was a spook or something ( I am not) but he asked me why no navy guys in the family. I told him my dad always called it ” the fucking navy”
he had a good laugh and said with all the medals he had, he could call it whatever he wanted to.
he used to shoot the bull with my uncle Jack, he was a Marine who served with “Chesty” at the “canal” to Pelieu and then taught the marines that went to Iwo.
after uncle Jack died, we found a box full of medals he had from his time in.
I miss talking with those two guys while having a beer on the porch.
My dad was the same, only way my brother and me after we had served could get him to talk about his service was after a few beers and only after we served would we understand, truly understand what he experienced. My dad flew Gen Patton around the European Theater for six months.
Unfortunately, my Dad would never discuss his time in Service. I never did find out how he, with only a High School diploma, went from a mechanic on B-17’s, B-24’s, and B-29’s to being a CWO-2 and doing Photo Interpretation for SAC.
Oh well, I’ll join him soon enough and we can reminisce. I can also talk to all my friends that didn’t make it back to Civilian life.
Requiescat in Pace, David Allen Higgs.
Let me begin by saying I’m not trying to denigrate anyone’s sacrifice, or service. I lost an uncle in Korea. But regarding the 3rd graphic, yes, they fought and died. Up until a few years ago, I would have agreed, for our country. Now I think more along the lines of Smedley Butler. War is a racket. I’m sure the vast majority of those that fought believed they were fighting for a righteous cause. So did most at home. That’s what we were told. To think otherwise was unpatriotic. But in light of the events of the past 2 or 3 decades, I’ve come to believe that we’ve been hoodwinked, bamboozled, scammed. Afghanistan? Iraq? Viet Nam? Ginned up by the CIA, et al. To be honest, I think that most of the US soldiers killed in foreign wars in the last 120 years died for political reasons and/or monetary gain of the MIC. Just imagine the difference in the socio/political landscape of the world, had Patton been allowed to do what needed to be done, and eliminate the Soviet threat in 1945.
Many will agree with you, but today is a day to remember the fallen, not a day to denigrate them for why they did what they did.
I’m not. All I’m saying is everyone was lied to. They believed, as did most people, that they were doing the right thing, for the right reasons. Then, as now, the government, and the media combined to push a false narrative.
We were all suckered snuffy
If not on the day their deaths are being remembered, then when? God knows nobody ever wants to deal with these realities. Even the groups that claim to help those who come back injured, etc NEVER want to speak out or in any way work to prevent the creation of more MIC victims.
my dad wanted me to go north to Canada instead of going in the army. and he did both WW2 and Korea.
he did earn 2 navy crosses for valor too in WW2.
and like 14 or 15 battle stars. he didn’t think much of war or why we where in Vietnam. and he sure did not trust anything they said.