Memorial Day!

[ppat324]

This weekend is the unofficial start of summer, but it is so much more.

I was reminded of that today when I went to the store and saw a man standing outside collecting money. He was wearing a VFW jacket and was collecting for our veterans. When I came out of the store I gave him my change and thanked him for his service to our country.

I want to thank each and everyone that has served. My dad (RIP), my husband (RIP), my brother (RIP), to a bunch of the guys that my husband knew thank you. My friend Major John Davis, thank you. A special thanks goes to a friend of my husband, Kenny. Even though I know he will never see this I still feel the need to thank him. Kenny is on 100% disability from his injuries and is in constant pain.
Thanks to the American Legion Post 18 Lockport, IL for being there for me during my darkest hour.
To each and every service men or women, thank you for protecting God, country and home. Thank you for protecting me.

 

[Boatsb]

Sometimes it's hard to remember what memorial day is. Pun intended. When you take all the bleeding heart celebs that want world piece and stand them on the front lines to defend our country while our troops go home for a weekend with their families that will be payment for 10% of what they did.

 

[lumina]

HI All,

I want to add my sincere thanks to all of the veterans out there. Your contributions to our country and countries around the world can't be measured in simple words.

And to my dad who passed last year, H.E.Ingalls, Chief Petty Officer, United States Navy, Seabees who severed 21 years beginning in 1941. I miss him every day.

 

[jim rosenthal]

I don't usually reply to these threads, but I will, to this one. My father, Lewis Rosenthal, went off to WWII at the age of twenty, I believe, the day after he graduated from City College of New York. He had enlisted in the Army during college because they would allow him to finish his degree and graduate before he went into the service. He was wounded in combat- not as badly as many other soldiers, but badly enough- spent some time in hospital, and I believe was in for a few years after that and then came home having completed his enlistment and was honorably discharged and went to graduate school, I imagine on the GI Bill.

I did not understand until many decades later how much that combat experience had marked him. We think of people in their twenties as grownups, but having helped raise children who are now that age, I know how much they are still children. My father had had no experience, as far as I know, with death, with illness, with combat- any of it. He saw all that and more in his time in the Army in Europe and England. He refused to discuss it.

I never knew my father as a carefree young man. He did not talk about the war- he resisted my attempts to find out what he had done and where. But later, when I grew up, I began in some dim way to understand what he had seen and the effect it had had on him. He never complained about it- he had gone into the Army and to war because it was what was expected of him by his country and because it was his duty to serve. But it would be a fair thing to say that he was not a fan of war or combat and that for the rest of his life he would actively question decisions to send troops into harms' way. Not that he disagreed with all those decisions, but he always felt that if force had to be applied in international affairs , he hoped it would be applied intelligently and that as little would be wasted in the way of life and limb as possible- on both sides. I feel, to this day, that he had earned the right to say that.

He and I were not close, and I don't pretend to know any more than that of his thoughts on the subject. I do feel, however, that there is a great deal of honor and dignity which are the rightful property of those who go off and do their job, however dangerous it may be, because they see it as their duty and their obligation to their country and their fellow citizens. I suspect that my father was young, frightened and inexperienced, like so many soldiers and sailors are. Notwithstanding that, he did his job as he was asked to do, because it was his job to do. His is an example that many might find useful to follow in the modern era.

 

[Avenger]

Most of the WWII vets didn't talk about their service. I believe it stems from a different culture that America probably will not be blessed with again. However, in a way this has been detrimental because it hides the true nature of what these people endured and accomplished. Over the last few weeks I've had the opportunity to meet a MOH recipient from the Vietnam War and a few Marines recently returned from Afghanistan. I'm forever in awe of what these people have done, and also by their humility. We owe people like them and your father a debt we can never hope to repay so all I can offer on this day is the humblest of thank yous and the prayer that because of what they have done my little boy will never have to be in harm's way. History shows us otherwise, but without these men we would not have the history that we do. God bless every one of them.

 

[MikeP]

"Most of the WWII vets didn't talk about their service."

It seems to me that most combat veterans don't talk much about their experience, regardless of which war they had the opportunity to "travel extensively, meet people from a different culture with different value beliefs.. and kill them."

OTOH, I had an office acquaintance who would regale anyone for hours with stories of the constant danger he faced as a USAF rear echelon Sgt living in an air conditioned room in (the former) Saigon and going out on the town every night. I don't know how many times I heard: "It's pretty rough wondering every time I got in my bunk if a 122mm rocket might have my name on it."

It would be interesting to ask the pyschologists why the people that fight don't talk while those who don't, do.

 

[Freeebird]

No offense to anyone, but Memorial Day is about remembering those who never got the chance to become veterans. May God bless those who lost their loved ones who gave their lives for this great country.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Mike, this is what's known as "alligator mouth, parakeet ass", I think...

 

[MikeP]

"No offense to anyone, but Memorial Day is about remembering those who never got the chance to become veterans. "

You are absolutely right! Somehow, we seem to have made "Memorial Day" into sort of a 3-day "Veteran's Day." And then in Nov we do the Veteran's day.

I'm sure my old office buddy loves the "attention."

 

[lumina]

Hi All,

I think what each of you have expressed are valid points regarding the meaning of Memorial Day.

It is a day of remembrance of all of our loved ones who have gone before us. It's a day to reflect on their lives and all they have given us and this world.

Since my dads death I do take this opportunity to speak of him and to speak of him is to mention his many years of service and that these years he considered to be some of the finest of his life.

And it is interesting that veterans don't speak of the horrors of war, neither did my dad. He'd share memories of his travels around the world but really never more than that.

So in recognition of your friends, family and loved ones who have passed including my mother last October at 91, happy memorial day.

 

[rsmith]

Most of the WWII vets didn't talk about their service. I believe it stems from a different culture that America probably will not be blessed with again. However, in a way this has been detrimental because it hides the true nature of what these people endured and accomplished. Over the last few weeks I've had the opportunity to meet a MOH recipient from the Vietnam War and a few Marines recently returned from Afghanistan. I'm forever in awe of what these people have done, and also by their humility. We owe people like them and your father a debt we can never hope to repay so all I can offer on this day is the humblest of thank yous and the prayer that because of what they have done my little boy will never have to be in harm's way. History shows us otherwise, but without these men we would not have the history that we do. God bless every one of them.

Its true even today my son flies combat missions over Afganistan and I can't even pry any info out of him.

 

[labrador]

RSMITH, tell your son thanks for his service!

 

[Avenger]

Its true even today my son flies combat missions over Afganistan and I can't even pry any info out of him.

"It's classified. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."
Tom Cruise as "Maverick" in Top Gun

You may be better off that he doesn't tell you.

 

[Boatnut]

Vets don't talk much about their experiences, my feeling is if we are here we are the lucky ones, those left behind are the ones giving the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you all for the prayers for the true heros, the ones left behind.

 

[GJH]

Respect and bless them all. It doesn't matter if they were there voluntarily or drafted, or if they died heroically or by some dumb accident or "friendly fire", or if the cause was a good idea or not. They gave their life while in the service of all of us who are so lucky to be alive in this (still) wonderful country.