To all who served

Agedman----I don't mean any disrespect to your thread---but Memorial Day is day set aside to remember those who gave their lives and who died in combat for our United States of America!!

The REAL heroes are those who are still on the beach!!----General Omar Bradley commenting on D-Day casualities on D + 3

Even three days after the invasion---and with the "Front" 5 miles inland---Bradley's subordinate officers encouraged him----"Sir! Its still too dangerous where we are---we need to get back to the ship!!"

 

In memory of those who gave their lives in the defense of our freedom:

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." --- John 15:13

 

As a veteran who came back physically and mentally intact, I am grateful to ALL who have served, are serving, died in combat, came back physically or mentally damaged for life, those like myself who were the fortunate ones to come back undamaged, and those who served without having to go to a war area.

Let's not single out only the ones who have fought in wars or are fighting, and those who have died for their country. Yes, these are great heros, but there are many others who love this great nation and have served in one military or another and would gladly die for their country if necessary. We need to remember all who serve or have served--regardless of whether they died or not, and regardless of whether they fight in a war or not. ALL of our military personal (in my opinion) are worthy of our respect--even if you don't think of them as heros. I'm no hero; I just served my country the way they chose for me and was fortunate enough not to have to fight in a war. I was in during the Viet Nam war.

 

Amen.

And allow me to add: The ones who kept the home fires burning. The parents, wives, husbands, children, family, who waited. The ones who made sure there were beans, bullets, and beds, even though they thought they weren't really contributing.

We owe you all a debt of gratitude, and will never forget.

 

My nephew served two tours in Iraq as a Navy corpsman embedded with a Marine Corps unit. His perspective follows:

"This day is a big deal to me... Many have been there and tried to put the pieces back together, tried to save the life of a friend, picked up what was left over and put it in a bag... Staying up all night shooting wild dogs so they would not eat scattered remains so when light came back up they could be gathered... Telling him its ok as his last breath is exhaled.. The smell of blood forever stains many hands and minds... American blood has been spilled all over the world so we may say and do what we want. I am forever thankful to those who never made it home alive... For they are Heroes and someone for our kids to look up to."

 

Amen Jon,

My story is similar to yours. I don't like to say that I am a Vietnam Era vet (and certainly not a hero) though I was in during that time of conflict because I was state-side involved in Information and Intelligence along what was then known as the BMEWS (Ballistic Missile Early Warning System) along the Canadian border across the pond to Thule Greenland (My duty was in upstate NY).

In fact, I had a very cushy job and though I was an enlisted man I had my own room, and worked mostly with civilians sometimes less than 40 hours per week. I had a permanent Class A pass along with several other priviledges (had a car on-base). I could go off base anytime and I could go home almost any weekend I wished.

Though we knew others were dying we were all made to realize (from cook to scientist) by the brass that our work was an integral part and vital to the defense of our beloved nation.

1 Samuel 30

24 For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.
25 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.​

I salute all my brothers like yourself Jon who "tarried by the stuff".

But yes, those who died in battle have a special place in our hearts.

HankD

 

In the newsletter at work this morning....

Yesterday was Memorial Day. The following was sent through a listserv for chaplains. It was written by the Rev. Norris Burkes, an Air Force chaplain for 18 years and now a chaplain with the California National Guard. It is a poignant reminder of why we celebrate Memorial Day and what sacrifices individuals and families have made for our country.

CASUALTY NOTIFICATION TEAM:
For me, Memorial Day has a face. It is the face of the family members
whose loved one made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Since 9/11,
I’ve met these faces in at least 30 homes in my community.
If I could introduce you to these families, I would. But because I can't,
I'd like you to imagine today that you've joined my casualty notification
team.

We unite with our team of four inside a nondescript military office where
we watch a training video, map our route to the home of a newly widowed
woman and memorize our scripted lines. The commander will deliver the badnews, the medic will watch for signs of stress, and you and I will offer
pastoral care.

Within the hour of being paged out of our everyday routines, we drive our
dark blue military sedan into a civilian neighborhood where we find an
address that doesn’t want to be found. As we step from the car, we look
much like a small parade formation, a living breathing cliché.
We park a few hundred yards from the house and you use the walking time to ask me questions.

"Will this notification be like your previous ones?" you ask. "How long
will we stay?" and "How will the people respond?" you want to know. I tell
you that the only certainty is that my past notifications will give us no
working schematic for this day. Nothing about these no-notice visits is
ever predictable.

All I can say is that in the past I‘ve heard an anguished father launch
into a political diatribe blaming the president for his son's death. I
recall another visit where I interrupted a child's birthday party, and in
yet another instance, I recount stopping a family's airport reunion to
tell them their son wasn't on the plane.

You shake your head and I stare at the Disney welcome mat while the
commander knocks on the door. I catch a side-glance of the commander
mouthing his script. It's a script that will go something like this:

"Are you Mrs. John E. Jones?"
"Yes."
"Is your husband Capt. John E. Jones?"
"Yes."
"Ma'am, the Secretary of the Army has asked me to express his deep
regret."

It may seem rote, but the script is the only way we all get through
without cracking. Our effort is compassionate, but professional. Of
course, it'll be unusual if we aren't interrupted by the sobbing screams
of denial, but we will stay with our lines until they are delivered.
Fortunately, you're not a part of this team today. Gratefully this column
is just a composite script of several of my team experiences.

However, it is a script that churns in the mind of every person who has
ever served in the military. Every person who wears the uniform of this
country fears that their family may one day hear these words of regret
from a team such as ours. Yet, despite their fear, they deploy. They do
their jobs and most of them come home.

So, as we pause this weekend to memorialize the sacrifices made by these
few, let us imagine being on the color guard at the funeral as a stiff
commander accepts a folded flag from his detail and presents it to this
family:

"On behalf of the president of the United States and a grateful nation,"
he says, "please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for
service to our country. God bless you and this family, and God bless the United States of America."

 

One can only imagine the thoughts going through the head of someone assigned to this duty. That is one aspect of duty that I can only imagine, having never been involved. It all comes down to the idea that freedom, liberty, and protecting the Constitution comes at a very high price. It is the price of the person who gave his or her life, the families, and the comrades who saw him or her fall.

This thread makes it quite clear why each and every citizen should be eternally grateful for members of our armed forces. This has nothing to do with the politics of the given conflict. Whether the Revolutionary War, WW2, or Vietnam, each person went off to a land that they never vistied, or in some cases, ever heard of. They had one reason in mind for going, to protect our freedom.

People who blur the lines between the dedication of service members and politicians who decided to get into this or that conflict are misguided at best, and do a disservice to the memory of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. This was really brought home when returning service members from Vietnam became the object of ridicule in the early 70s. Again, they were coming back home having done the job they were told to do. Everyone of them deserve our deepest respect.

Questions like why did President Johnson get us so involved or why didn't President Nixon get us out of the war sooner are another subject, and should never have been reflected in our treatment of these returning warriors.

 

Thank you, agedman. My father was a career Marine serving in WW II and Korea retiring in 1961. His older brother served in WW II enlisting in the Army. His younger brother served in Korea. I was the Vietnam Era. My wife's oldest brother was a Marine. A Helicopter Crew Chief who gave his all in 1966. One can search google for Robert Ray Telfer and he comes up.

The military isn't what it used to be but a good experience for any young man.