Memorial Day (Request)

[Dukestreetking]

Amidst the beer, BBQ, and good holiday humor, today should also be one of somber reflection, if even briefly.

 

For, this day, we humbly honor The Fallen: those who have given their lives--in battle and beyond--to this nation. 

 

Their deaths echo across lost futures, devastated families, loved ones, and friends, eternally mournful.

 

But now they're just weathered dog tags, hard tears, and faded flowers, laid across wistful graves.

 

So I'll paraphrase Lincoln and suggest it must be we, the living, who solemnly pay tribute to their service and sacrifice, or, I fear, they will just drift from our memory.

 

Therefore I ask, most respectively: please take a few moments this day, bow your heads, and pray for our lost brothers-and-sisters-in-arms, and those bereaved.

 

V/r, DSK

[14774]

🇺🇸

[Let's Go Buffalo]

Amen!

[Greg S]

[Neo]

Hear, hear!   Amen.   Well said, brother.   I am grateful.

[machine gun kelly]

7 hours ago, Dukestreetking said:

Amidst the beer, BBQ, and good holiday humor, today should also be one of somber reflection, if even briefly.

 

For, this day, we humbly honor The Fallen: those who have given their lives--in battle and beyond--to this nation. 

 

Their deaths echo across lost futures, devastated families, loved ones, and friends, eternally mournful.

 

But now they're just weathered dog tags, hard tears, and faded flowers, laid across wistful graves.

 

So I'll paraphrase Lincoln and suggest it must be we, the living, who solemnly pay tribute to their service and sacrifice, or, I fear, they will just drift from our memory.

 

Therefore I ask, most respectively: please take a few moments this day, bow your heads, and pray for our lost brothers-and-sisters-in-arms, and those bereaved.

 

V/r, DSK

Well written as I woke up thinking the same.  I’ve not lost a family member due to war, but had a number of uncles and my dad serve during wartime.  For two of my uncles and my father, it was the Korean War.  For another uncle, Vietnam.  They all came home, but lost friends over there in two wars.  I pledged decades ago, I would go to church not necessarily for mass as I just went yesterday, but somehow has meaning to me to sit in a pew for a few minutes and pray for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  I do it every year on Memorial Day.  We just finished breakfast so getting ready to leave now.

 

Thank you to the people on this board who served.  I firmly believe all of us appreciate youre service and sacrifices to protect our freedoms.  The last couple of years I’m constantly reminded how wonderful it is to live here as my wife emigrated from China 9 years ago, and has shared privately many times what it was like living in a communist nation.  She sacrificed everything to get her kids, my stepsons to grow up in a free society.

 

God bless this country we hold so dear.

 

 

Enjoy those burgers and dogs today all and hug you’re kids.

[ChevyVanMiller]

 

An Idea for Memorial Day
by ChevyVanMiller

Everything that is great in the world started with an idea.

Before Adam’s finger stretched toward his creator on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he was but a germ of thought in the mind of the great artist Michelangelo. Before the word “Rosebud” was ever associated with a child’s sled, the notion was a masterful twist in the mind of the great movie-maker, Orson Welles. Before the Golden Gate Bridge became a worldwide symbol of American ingenuity and know-how, the great span was only a thought suspended in the imagination of engineer, Joseph Strauss.

So, too, is the origin of the greatest experiment in the history of planet Earth. An idea, freedom and democracy, that gave birth to a nation, America, that grew and prospered and inspired other inhabitants from faraway places to rise up and overthrow tyranny in favor of democratic governments.

When the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in the Summer of 1775, the delegates from the thirteen colonies were enamored with an idea that, to many of the time, seemed heretical. The great assemblage of minds dared dream of a form of government where the people would have equal vote and equal voice in deciding their common fate.

On July 4, 1776 the men adopted the Declaration of Independence and this new form of government known as democracy had a blueprint that would serve as a lantern to light the road headed forward.

To be sure, the great think tank, led by soon-to-be legends, Jefferson, Adams and Franklin, were still limited by the perceptions of equality that pervaded the minds of their generations and those of many to follow. Their definition of equality didn’t include women and people of color. But the wisdom of the document they created, and the ideology it spawned, was that it contained enough elasticity to allow it to expand to grow with the enlightenment that was on the horizon for the nation they conceived.

Here’s the funny thing about ideas that make it to reality: they are much like children that are raised and set free into the world. Sometimes they’re embraced universally and ofttimes they have to be fiercely defended against hostility and aggression.

So it has come to pass that America has had to go to war, time and time again, against nations and people that are threaten by this notion of allowing people the ability to climb social classes and pursue studies of their own choosing.

From the Revolutionary War, which was raging while the Second Continental Congress convened, to the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, 1.3 million soldiers have fallen on the field of battle never to rise again.

After the American Civil War a holiday, known as Decoration Day, arose in the South where flowers and flags were placed on the graves of fallen soldiers as a way of remembrance and honor to those who gave all. A similar holiday soon began being practiced in the North.

In 1882, Decoration Day was renamed Memorial Day and it became a federal holiday nearly a century later in 1968 when the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved the observance to the last Monday in May of each year.

It’s another good idea, to set aside a day to honor those that died to allow all Americans to live freely, but is it enough?

With time many great oceans of gesture get watered down until they are nothing but deserts of long-forgotten intent. Do you remember the days and weeks after 9/11 when you couldn’t spot a car without a red, white and blue magnetic ribbon on the chrome bumper? Back then we swore we’d never forget. Our sportscasters stopped using words like “bomb” and “sudden death” during football telecasts, and when the people at those games arose to sing the National Anthem they sang it with gusto - hat’s off, right hand placed firmly over the heart.

Today, we haven’t forgotten what happened that dreadful Tuesday, but we don’t quite wear it on our sleeves anymore either. I guess that’s a natural progression. After all, didn’t Robert Frost say all there was to be said on the subject when he opined, “In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."

So here we are on another Memorial Day. What is the best way to pay homage to the soldiers of many wars who believed so much in this idea of America that they kissed their mothers goodbye, pulled away from the arms of crying wives and inconsolable children and went off into a murky unknown to preserve the great principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Some of us will take in a parade. Others will visit a grave. Many will fly the flag from the front porch. We will cook on the grill, swim at the beach and let our minds forget the long, cold winter that has passed, and embrace the summer that is just on the cusp.

Of course, in the new way of connecting, we will post remembrances on Facebook and click “Like" on the holiday posts of others.

All of that is just fine. But there are two other things that may be an even better way of honoring those that laid down their lives for all of us.

The first is to take the next opportunity that comes your way and thank a man or woman in uniform for their service. I mean walk up to them, shake their hand and say, “Excuse me, but I just want to take a moment and let you know how much it means to me that you chose to wear that uniform and defend the principles of democracy for us all.”

Try it just once, and when you see the reaction that it elicits you won’t ever have to be reminded to do it again.

The second thing is less overt, but no less powerful: Grab hold of one of the ideas floating around in your head and make it reality.

If you’ve always wanted to learn to play the guitar, sign up for lessons now. If you have an idea for a novel, get some words down on paper. If you want to volunteer your time, then find an organization and get off the couch and into the game.

For centuries, human beings were born, lived and died with just such dreams floating around in their brains and they had zero opportunity of ever realizing any of them. Their lives were subjugated to serve the autocratic, caste and often tyrannical governments that ruled their universe.

A bunch of crazy thinkers in Philadelphia two centuries ago changed all of that. 1.3 million brave and selfless souls gave up every grain of sand left in their collective hourglass to preserve it for me and you and all that will come after we are but a memory.

So, make putting a new action into play your Memorial today.

It’s just an idea...

Edited Monday at 12:38 PM by ChevyVanMiller

[BarleyNY]

[aristocrat]

Very well said

[Shaw66]

Nice thoughts here.  Thanks for helping us all remember and be grateful.  

[ColoradoBillsFan91]

2 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

Well written as I woke up thinking the same.  I’ve not lost a family member due to war, but had a number of uncles and my dad serve during wartime.  For two of my uncles and my father, it was the Korean War.  For another uncle, Vietnam.  They all came home, but lost friends over there in two wars.  I pledged decades ago, I would go to church not necessarily for mass as I just went yesterday, but somehow has meaning to me to sit in a pew for a few minutes and pray for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  I do it every year on Memorial Day.  We just finished breakfast so getting ready to leave now.

 

Thank you to the people on this board who served.  I firmly believe all of us appreciate youre service and sacrifices to protect our freedoms.  The last couple of years I’m constantly reminded how wonderful it is to live here as my wife emigrated from China 9 years ago, and has shared privately many times what it was like living in a communist nation.  She sacrificed everything to get her kids, my stepsons to grow up in a free society.

 

God bless this country we hold so dear.

 

 

Enjoy those burgers and dogs today all and hug you’re kids.

 

 

Thanks for sharing, it is never lost on me how fortunate we are to be born in this great country full of men and women who are willing to serve to defend it. It also never ceases to amaze me how many people wish to immigrate here, I hope your wife and stepsons are enjoying their time here in the USA and are on their way to citizenship if that is the path they choose. 

[Chandler#81]

Thank you Brothers in Arms!

[Fan in Chicago]

Only respect and prayers for those you laid down their lives for the country. 

The highest forms of heros.

[sherpa]

My father's brother, who would have been my uncle, was killed in WWII. The sickening thing about it that he killed on the day that the Germans recorded a video of seriously damaged Hitler addressing the remaining Hitler Youth. His final video, just before the end of the war.

The Germans my uncle was fighting just west of Florence in Italy had already been surrendered the day before, but work hadn't gotten to the front lines until the next day.

 

We lost an A6 at sea in the Indian Ocean. Freakish mishap. I had just launched off cat 2, and in between us, an F-14 off cat 1.

The A6 was on cat 4 and got to about 100 knots when the cat lost all pressure. They ejected just off the bow. The BN went right under the Kitty Hawk and was never seen. The pilot, Bruce Williams, the CO of the A6 squadron went down the left side of the ship and flashed a thumbs up in the water, but couldn't get the parachute off. The rescue helo arrived immediately and a swimmer went in. Turns out Williams was about 10' underwater and the swimmer got to him and got his arm under his shoulder straps. Helo started the hoist. He died on the helo and the swimmer separated his shoulder on the way up Just horrible.

[Dukestreetking]

30 minutes ago, sherpa said:

My father's brother, who would have been my uncle, was killed in WWII. The sickening thing about it that he killed on the day that the Germans recorded a video of seriously damaged Hitler addressing the remaining Hitler Youth. His final video, just before the end of the war.

The Germans my uncle was fighting just west of Florence in Italy had already been surrendered the day before, but work hadn't gotten to the front lines until the next day.

 

We lost an A6 at sea in the Indian Ocean. Freakish mishap. I had just launched off cat 2, and in between us, an F-14 off cat 1.

The A6 was on cat 4 and got to about 100 knots when the cat lost all pressure. They ejected just off the bow. The BN went right under the Kitty Hawk and was never seen. The pilot, Bruce Williams, the CO of the A6 squadron went down the left side of the ship and flashed a thumbs up in the water, but couldn't get the parachute off. The rescue helo arrived immediately and a swimmer went in. Turns out Williams was about 10' underwater and the swimmer got to him and got his arm under his shoulder straps. Helo started the hoist. He died on the helo and the swimmer separated his shoulder on the way up Just horrible.

 

Deepest condolences for your would-be Uncle, and to Bruce Williams (I assume CMDR or above, I don't speak Navy). And thank you for your service...no kidding.

[Dukestreetking]

break/break

 

Sherpa, above, reminds me of a thought:

 

If you've lost someone to battle--or, ultimately, to the Ravages once the guns are silent--feel free to leave their names here, to be etched in TBD granite.

 

For me, too damn many, so I'll just note:

 

COL McCarthy, 5th Grp

SGM Lamantia, 5th Grp

Moses (callsign)

CAPT Pollard, 5th Grp

MSG Rendina, 107th

Bama (callsign)

Mikey (callsign)

[sherpa]

Ya Williams was a CDR.

It was one of the learning days for me. I was on my first cruise, but we were well into it. After launch, you go to "Strike Freq." and check in, then go about your business. When I checked in, which was probably 90 secs after the ejection, I had no idea. Strike told me to switch to "Covered Strike, " which is the encrypted freq. The told me there was an airplane in the water and that the Soviet Intel ship was steaming to the wreckage on the surface and told me to keep them away. the way you do that is to descend to deck level and cross their bow, indicating change your course. They didn't change so I did a 360 and pushed it up to about 500 and flew right between two of their masts/antennas.

I asked strike if they wanted me to lay down a strafing run in front of them a few hundred feet, but they said no. Anyway, they turned away.

I was supposed to be my CO's wingman on this so he watched the thing from above, and after we landed he told me that it was obvious I had lost my temper and this stuff happens. But he also told me my second pass was pretty cool.

 

[Don Otreply]

🙏 

[machine gun kelly]

3 hours ago, ColoradoBillsFan91 said:

 

 

Thanks for sharing, it is never lost on me how fortunate we are to be born in this great country full of men and women who are willing to serve to defend it. It also never ceases to amaze me how many people wish to immigrate here, I hope your wife and stepsons are enjoying their time here in the USA and are on their way to citizenship if that is the path they choose. 

They are Colorado.  My wife maybe the most patriotic American as she knows the difference as she lived for 33 years.  My wife wept with me when I played at 6 am on YouTube “I’m proud to be an American”.  She know sacrifice and loves our country.  Makes me love her even more as she knows I’m a patriot.  I get the warts, but there is no country better than ours.

 

Enjoy your day bud.  She called an audible on me not burgers, but made home made pizza and she’s happy as a clam.  The old phrase happy wife, yadadyada.

[boyst]

Murph complete.

Honor the fallen.