Monday, May 26, 2014
Memorial Day
Thank a soldier. They deserve everything we have.
A good Memorial Day to you, particularly to MY soldiers here at GeeeZ; I'm so proud of you ALL.
And glad you came back. So many didn't:
I think of all the women in America during the wars without email, where they'd not know about their husband or brother or son for months! And the parents who raised such a wonderful son only to get a soldier walking up the front walk to ring their doorbell, or get a telegram..."We regret to inform you..." I don't know how they live through it. But, today's the day we remember the soldiers AND their families.
Z
xxx
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20 comments:
Have a Great Memorial Day, America! Take some time out, and remember / thank someone who served!
And to Mustang, SF, Elbro and all the other Vets who frequent this establishment....
Thank You for Your Service!
Z - When I remember our troops in my prayers - I also remember the families of the troops - who have to go it alone without their
spouse.
Have a Happy Memorial Day - Z.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13
During the Korean War, my uncle was scheduled to have been on a flight that crashed. My mom's twin sister didn't know for four days that he was not aboard the flight.
Every uncle on both sides of my family, including my dad was in either WWII or Korea. Some uncles were in both wars.
My dad lied about his age at 16 and joined the army. He was walking down a street in Japan when he passed his older brother. My uncle wasn't even aware my dad had joined the service.
Times were certainly different back then.
Blessed are our Fallen.
thanks for all those wonderful comments...
Yes, Thersites:
Mustang, Elbro, Kurt at Silverfiddle, Imp, and Imp's brother, CI, ...
If you're another of our vets, please PLEASE let us know; We salute you.
Odie...there's almost no more to say than that, is there.
Rita...so they saw each other in Japan? What a shock! That's an amazing story.
Thanks to your family for their service.
Mustang...I can never comprehend that courage and love. Not in human beings. I think it's a fault in me, tell you the truth.
Sue, thanks...same to you
I found it 'odd' that Turner classic Movies would show FRIENDLY PERSUASION this very morning; a film of Quakers and "thou shalt not kill". I came in late to it and watched till the end...and was surprised to see that the brother DOES kill and the father says "Thee HAD to son," and the mother DOES whack a Reb for trying to kill her goose.
I'm a vet, but non-combat.
Yet a guy I served with was walking down a street in Ankara I had walked down when some Kurds killed him for being an American GI.
We weren't friends, but I remember him today.
Today is about the dead, Veteran's Day for the rest of us.
Good post, as usual.
Today [like many other days] I think of Amanda Doster and her two beautiful daughters Kathryn and Grace. On 29 September 2007, her husband and my friend, James Doster, lost his life after an IED attack.
Author Dexter Filkins wrote a book titled "The Good Soldiers", about Jim's battalion. He went on to write "Thank You For Your Service". I haven't been able read either, since it features our unit and surge tour in Baghdad. But I understand that Amanda is written about especially in the second book, covering the hellish nightmare of losing Jim.
"But, today's the day we remember the soldiers AND their families."
Well emphasized.
http://tinyurl.com/pxzv9fx
It is humbling to think what our military has done for us. From the Revolutionary War to Afghanistan, men and women have, as Lincoln described, given their last full measure of devotion for their friends, neighbors, and nation.
Those heros are in military and other cemeteries all over the world. There are many thousands in unmarked graves and at the bottom of oceans.
War is not a pretty thing, but our freedoms are beautiful. We have to believe that it is all worth the effort.
CI, my heart bleeds for Amanda and her daughters; and their dad who'll never see them grow up. And I'm very sorry for your loss of your friend. Too many stories like that.
Ed, thanks for your service, too. And I'm so sorry about your friend, as well. IMagine just being shot for being an American GI walking down a street?
Turkey.
And yes, today is about THE DEAD; and why I can't say "HAPPY Memorial Day"....impossible.
Mustang's quote from John struck me today in that it says "lay down one's life" not "die"...I pray that the interpretation is they lay down their life on earth and LIVE in eternal peace.
@CI:
For your service, my Thanks...for your loss, my condolences.
@Z:
Marine4ever, skudrunner & silverfiddle?
http://mrmadison.net/2014/05/26/memorial-day-2014/
please, if you have the time, go visit Mustang's blog and a very touching, interesting video.
Imp...I have Kurt at Silverfiddle mentioned, thanks...
Thanks for remembering Marine4 and Skudrunner, who I don't believe I knew was a vet.
They need to ALL be remembered.
Yes Z. My dad was only 16. He didn't know the exact location of any of his brothers, who were also serving. And he literally ran into his own brother walking on a street in Japan. His older brother wasn't even aware he had joined.
But that was back in the day. When nearly all the men joined the service. Should have been in '47 or '48. His oldest brother retired from the Navy. He serviced in virtually every war from WWII to Vietnam.
He once told me how he was in awe of my husband serving in the infantry in Vietnam. When I mentioned how many wars he had been in, he said," yes, but I was on a ship. I had a place to sleep and eat every night".
He didn't even mention when his ship was inadvertently sank off of San Francisco Bay by an accident with another ship. He spent five hours in the water before they picked him up. His story was war related, but you know how cold the bay is. Can't imagine floating there for five hours. Pretty sure the ship was USS Hope. You can find the story online.
My uncles on the other side saw some hard action in WWII. They never told their stories, so I will never know what happened on Sicily to warm the Purple Hearts.
We must never forget. Hope you had a great day,
I'm glad our doorbell was never rung by men in uniform Z. Not yet anyway.
I view all those in combat as battling evil and those who were killed as Knights in White Satin.
I wish most families celebrate their lives today.
I can never say enough 'thank you's' for military service because I know human nature. There are always people who want to take what other people have - life, liberty and property. Our hard work and sacrifices naturally make our country a target of envy by some who would move to take what they don't want to earn for themselves honestly or what they resent in others who did.
So again - thank you to those who form a cordon of protection around our rights and lives from the machinations of foreign enemies. Whatever the service, and whether in war or in peace, their PRESENCE serves us more than we will probably ever know.
And hopefully (or not), they won't have to make good on their oath to engage domestic enemies.
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