For my fallen brothers and sisters.

[whale392]

My Grandfather was an anti-aircraft gunner in WWII, I was in Naval Aviation, I wear a black band around my wrist to remind me of a friend who gave his life trying to save his Unit Brothers, and I bear the scars in my heart for friends/brothers/sisters lost to wars. Tears try to form as I type this, but I force them back so that I may see the screen.

Let us not forget what Memorial Day is all about. Between the burgers, chips, pop and beer; take a moment, hold a moment of silence for those who went but did not come back. Remember those you have lost, think of those who are lost, and pray for the families of those who are yet to be lost. Brave men and women died so that we may have the freedoms we do today, so that we may have the nation that others aspire to be. Memorial Day is their day, a solemn day of remembrance and honor to those gone but not forgotten. To all my lost brothers and Sisters, GOD speed and go blessed, rest easy, your toils are over.

[DRG]

All I can add to that is;

AMEN

[Keef]

All I can add to that is;

AMEN

X2!!!!!

[milkman]

Yes, very well said. My dad served 4 and 1/2 years during WWII and my father-in-law was a 30 year Marine. Not long after my wife and I had married, they were talking with each other at dinner and discovered they had both been at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. My dad was on a Navy ship and my father-in-law was a Marine shore guard on duty that morning. They had not met until my wife and I dated. Neither had a clue they shared that experience.

From my perspective as a public school history teacher, students have very little respect or appreciation of this day. I try to teach about patriotism but usually falls on deaf ears. Very few are taught any at home these days.

[crazyjim]

My feelings for our Fallen Heroes is best expressed by the words of Ed Johnson (Detroit, MI) and inscribed on the Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial -

As long as we live, you shall be loved.

As long as we live, you shall be remembered.

As long as we live, you shall live.

God bless our troops and may they all come home soon and safe.

[MikeMc]

Amen.....NEVER FORGET

[thesnake87]

My dad was a UH-60A Blackhawk crew chief and was in Panama and stood face to face with Manuel Noriega, he was in the first Gulf War and had the commanding general command the entire ground war (remember the "left hook?") from the back of his bird. He nearly fell out of one, was a Green Beret, with the 106th Special Ops "Night Stalkers" (He has no doubt this was the unit that took out Bin Laden, that's the type of stuff they did) and has seen things only people of war have witnessed.

I thank all of those who have served, and maybe one day I myself will as an officer in the Air Force. God Bless America.

[Agent G]

My feelings for our Fallen Heroes is best expressed by the words of Ed Johnson (Detroit, MI) and inscribed on the Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial -

As long as we live, you shall be loved.

As long as we live, you shall be remembered.

As long as we live, you shall live.

God bless our troops and may they all come home soon and safe.

And may God bless Chesty Puller wherever he may be.

Semper Fi

G

[Dragracer]

My Dad (& his brothers) served in WW2, Dad was a Mortar Sargent in Germany, my Mom worked in a factory making parts for the Corsair planes, got a lot of photos taken by my Dad & his friends in Germany. Thanks go out to all who have served & who are serving, THANK YOU ALL!.

[Art Anderson]

I grew up around a ton of adult relatives, but one who stands out in my memory is my Dad's favorite cousin, Crystal. Now Crystal was, to see her, just your average midwestern small town homemaker, but there was something about her that I noticed at an early age. She frequently (and surely at every family reunion) would mention "Wayne". Whenever she did that, the other adults would quiet down, while Crystal would relate some anecdote about "Wayne". Who was this person "Wayne" I wondered, as a young, peach-fuzz faced kid in the 1950's? One day (I was perhaps 10yrs old or so), on a quick stop with Dad (I rode with Dad a lot in the summer when he went to make his rounds on business); we stopped at Crystal's home in Oxford IN, just for a quick visit. "Aunt Crystal" I finally got up the courage to ask, "Who is Wayne"? (Ahhh, the innocence of youth!). She went quiet for several moments, put her hand on my head, then quietly took me into her parlor (one of those old-fashioned homes), and showed me a picture on a bookshelf: "That's Wayne", she said, pointing proudly at the photographic portrait of a young man, perhaps 20 years old, in his US Navy Dress Whites. Crystal stopped, said no more, and I watched as she closed her eyes, but too late, the tears leaked down her cheeks.

Dad, as fathers are known to do, shushed me, and after a moment or so, Crystal regained her composure, and Dad and I excused ourselves, went on our way. That evening, Dad sat me down after supper (scared me a bit, what did I do wrong?) and then assured me I had done nothing wrong. He related to me, words to this effect: "Son, Crystal cried today, because Wayne was her oldest son, the pride of their family. When war broke out with Japan in 1941, he enlisted in the Navy, and got assigned to aerial gunners' school. Things moved VERY fast at that time, and by late spring, Wayne was flying in the back seat of a Navy dive bomber at the Battle of the Coral Sea." Dad paused for a bit, took a gulp of coffee (he was never without his coffee cup). "Wayne fought at Coral Sea, was cited for shooting down a Japanese plane (not a mean feat, considering he had but a pair of .50 Cal macnine guns in a rear-facing flexible mount on that SBD), and then just a few weeks later, his ship, USS Yorktown headed out to Midway Island to take on the van of the Imperial Japanese Navy." Dad paused again: "Wayne's squadron flew out to attack the Japanese carriers, and his flight and his comrades sank the carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor just 7 months earlier. When Wayne got back to the States, he was given a month's leave, and he came home to Oxford (a little town of about 1000 in Benton County IN), and we all went out to see him, spend some time with him." Dad's eyes misted up. "Wayne reported back to his squadron at San Francisco in late July 1942. On a training flight over San Francisco Bay, his plane crashed, and he was killed, and he's buried at West Cemetery in Oxford."

Whoa! I was both enthralled that I had a cousin (he died 2yrs before I was born) who had done those things, been where he'd been, seen what he'd seen. But tempering that was the sheer disappointment at knowing I would never meet him. A few years later, I was in high school, and assigned to write a paper for history class. I chose to write about Wayne, so back to Oxford I went, this time, a bit wiser, and certainly solemn, and interviewed Aunt Crystal and Uncle Ed, and they told me a lot about Wayne. After hearing of his growing up, the times he had as a school kid, Aunt Crystal went to the bookshelf where Wayne's picture sat, took a little box off the shelf, showed it to me and opened it: The Navy Cross.

I was never more proud than I was at seeing that decoration, and at the same time, never more solemn, nor sad, when it sunk in that Wayne had risked it all on more than one occasion to help give ME the life I have lived in this great country.

Today, I keep Wayne and the legions of his comrades, regardless of their branch of service, who gave the "last full measure of their devotion" (as Abraham Lincoln so eloquently put it), to "give this life to me" (thanks to Lee Greenwood for that sentiment).

So, on Memorial Day, we need to seriously thank every fallen hero, from every war (and there are what, slightly over a million fallen heroes of the US Military since 1775?) for stepping up, bravely going forward, and making the ultimate sacrifice. Our lives we live today we owe to them, folks!

Art

[Harry P.]

My thanks go out to all those who did (and still do) the things that I am too scared to do.

[Guest Johnny]

Art that touched home! My Great Grandma was the same way but it was "Raymond", her youngest son. He enlisted shortly after Dec.7th. She hadn't heard from him in a while as we all know mail runs slow from a war zone. She was in the dining room ironing when she heard his call "Mom" from the front door! She went only to see a Sailor heading down the road towards town at a fast walk.

10 days later a Navy Lt. and a Chaplin showed up at her door with the news. He had went down in the Coral sea aboard his ship the USS Langley. That very day he came to her door!

She always said she knew before they came, she knew because he came to say goodbye.

I get goosebumps and teary eyed just thinking about it.

[charlie8575]

Some very meaningful, well thought-out posts here.

While back in college this year, I was involved in the Paralegal Club at my college (Massachusetts Bay Community College,) and in conjunction with the Veterans Club, we put together a special series of commemerations during the week of Veterans Day this past November.

Now, our Veterans Club, as you can imagine, is composed mostly of younger guys who are veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan fronts. Hearing some of those stories during that week- what some of those guys went through in what I heard called more than a few times "Hell's Sandbox," really drove home that while the fronts, the enemies, the weapons, and the tactics may have changed, the fight remains the same. Protection of our nation.

Whether you agree or disagree with our present involvements, please remember to support those who dawn the uniforms of this (or your) nation. And never forget those who made the Supreme Sacrifice in its defense.

My dad works at the VA. He sees the results every day.

As a closing thought, this was our flag raising ceremony. I was requested to photograph the events of the day. The Color Guard from Charles River Labs in Natick provided our honor guard.

Never forget.

Charlie Larkin

[ewaskew]

My Grandfather was an anti-aircraft gunner in WWII, I was in Naval Aviation, I wear a black band around my wrist to remind me of a friend who gave his life trying to save his Unit Brothers, and I bear the scars in my heart for friends/brothers/sisters lost to wars. Tears try to form as I type this, but I force them back so that I may see the screen.

Let us not forget what Memorial Day is all about. Between the burgers, chips, pop and beer; take a moment, hold a moment of silence for those who went but did not come back. Remember those you have lost, think of those who are lost, and pray for the families of those who are yet to be lost. Brave men and women died so that we may have the freedoms we do today, so that we may have the nation that others aspire to be. Memorial Day is their day, a solemn day of remembrance and honor to those gone but not forgotten. To all my lost brothers and Sisters, GOD speed and go blessed, rest easy, your toils are over.

I pray for the fallen one's and for there family's to have the strength needed to get through there loss

every time I here about it.

Today is set aside just for them,and that is nice.

However tomorrow another may fall so that we can continue to be free and to help others.

Thats a memory/thought that stays with me all the time.

I saw a tattoo on a Marine and this is what it said.

Born to fight

Trained to kill

Not afraid to die.

But never will

U.S.M.C.

As long as we remember all that have fallen there memory will live on forever.

Thank all of you that are still with us serving and that have served.

And I am sorry for those who have lost loved one's serving this country.

Earl Miller

[charlie8575]

Just ran across this, and I thought this short commentary said all that needed to be said.

http://www.newsmax.com/Miller/judith-miller-memorial-day/2011/05/30/id/398218

Charlie Larkin

[bandit1]

My Grandfather is an Korean Vet then theres my Step Grandfather who i just found out when i first met him is also a Korean Vet! they both served in the ARMY But was in different Battalions, my father served in the Air Force he was one of the technicians that worked on the aircraft (was surprisingly never in a war)

my brother "TRIED" to join up with the army i think and i guess they changed there acceptance applications or something cause i/my brother/my father all have the same exact hearing and hince my father served in the military i think he got out around the early 60's just prior to "NAM" but they would not take my brother so i was planning on joining the air force back then but i said since they didnt take him and im the same way with my hearing (i guess it comes from all of us shooting guns all the time) i just didnt bother but now im 26 and i guess they wouldnt take me now or i dont know! but gettting back to the family in the services ordeal... i have heard stories from my mother that i had a great uncle i believe that he was a POW in a german prison camp and the thing that kept him alive was his last name was german other than that they would have probably killed him on the spot! and i have relatives that one i think was a sister to the queen of england or something way back when and another was a royale guard to which i believe but im going to sit my mother down and get all the names and history of my name!

So many thanx to all our Vets of the past, Vets of the present, and Vets of the future! for keeping this land that i call "AMERICA" the land of the free and the home of the brave!

for how the song goes at the end!-

I LOVE MY COUNTRY!

I LOVE MY GUNS!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

I LOVE THE WAY IT IS NOW!

AND ANYBODY THAT TRIES TO CHANGE IT HAS TO COME THROUGH ME!

CAUSE THAT SHOULD BE ALL OF OUR ATTITUDES!

CAUSE THIS IS AMERICA AND A COUNTRY BOY'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME SON!

- CHARLIE DANIELS (COUNTRY BOY BY AARON LEWIS)

SEAN BRADY