OT: Memorial Day

[choke]

[Johnnyg]

Thanks for the thoughtful post. I served in the Army and went to Nam. After 20 plus years i finally went to the Vietnam Memorial. I ended up speaking to a HS class who happened to be there. I answered there questions and hugged the teacher, we both cried. This experience was so therapeutic for me. This encounter just happened and i will never forget it. Every day is a gift. Memorial Day......

[Bruce K]

Boston Common Flag garden.

One flag for every person from Massachusetts who lost their lives for this country (37,000 in all) from the American Revolution through today with a special section for those lost on 9/11.

Very sobering.

BK

[jghall]

Originally Posted by KJMUNC

there's a group of people who died in defense of the lifestyle we so often take for granted.

Amen that that.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by BlueFly

I often remember how others have struggled/suffered so that I may have such a fortunate life.

Thank you.

good post. truth.

[AngryScientist]

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

[metalheart]

I always remember him on this day. A classmate and friend, died in a bombing run over Laos, MIA, body never recovered......

[Catman]

Thanks for the post. Far too many miss the true meaning of the day!


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[sg8357]

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.”

[Bruce K]

A buddy of my Dad's is 98 years old now.

WWII veteran - retired Colonel - ski/mountaineering troops, 101st Airborne, D-Day, Bastogne, unit that included the company that the story "Band of Brothers" was written about but I don't think it was Easy Company.

The stories he told were jaw dropping.

He will get a call tomorrow.

BK

[john903]

My wife and I were at lunch and an older gentleman and his wife came in and sat near us. He had a ball cap on that said WW2 Veteran Armored division. After we finished our meal I went over and said hello and we talked for a few minutes. He was a tanker from 1943-45 he was a very happy person with a warm smile, it made my weekend. Sadly you don't see to many WW2 Veterans anymore so I always make it a point to talk with them. I try not to take for granted the life and privileges we enjoy here and meeting him drove that home.
Have a great day

[LegendRider]

This is the telegram my grandfather received notifying him that his brother had been KIA in the Battle of Anzio (Italy, WW2). By all accounts, he was a great guy and it saddens me that I never got to meet him.