Memorial Day

[erudne]

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[orygun]

 

[lowly monk]

I use to call my father and uncles and thank them for there service. There gone now...

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

 

[MightyCasey]

Thanks to all who have served and those that have sacrificed! Watched Gary Sinise's memorial tribute last night on PBS, gotta love that guy's support for our soldiers. We need many more like him.

 

[edslhead]

Thanks Pop! And all.

 

[tac]

In WW1, eleven members of my family served from 1914 right through to 1918. One, my maternal grandfather, is still in France. The others, some wounded, but all gassed, made it home.

In WW2 six members of my family served for much of it - two of them landed on the beaches on June 6th, and made it through to the end.

I was in the Army, full-time, from 9th September 1967 to 28th August 2000.

One relative, acquired after WW2, was on the other side, having joined the Army in 1938 to get away from the orphanage in which he was brought up. He survived until 1969, when he died aged only 49, from long-term injuries.

All of them, him included, were brave men, doing their duty as they saw it.

This is YOUR Remembrance Day, and I'm asking to share it with you for the sake not only of some people that none of you have ever heard of, but also for two Americans who share my name, and whom I remember here in England at the American Military Cemetery at Madingley, not far from us here.

Lt Thomas J Foley of Massachusetts, co-pilot of 'Chris' Craft - lost at sea on 23 February 1945 - on the Wall of Remembrance. He was known as Bonny, because of his bright blue eyes.

Cpl John D Foley Jnr of California - died 3 July 1944 - Plot C Row O Grave #58.

Thanks.

tac

 

[U201491]

What has made me concerned was the lack of attendance at the cemeteries this year.
We just went to several to pay tribute to family members and the number of sites that
had flowers and flags on them have dwindled from previous years.
Very sad to see happening.

The youth and the people today have no interest in what gave them their freedom anymore.
For that they will eventually pay with loss of it.

 

[rick benjamin]

Taku, you're just getting older.
I'm going later in the week to visit Jay in Corvallis.
I hate the thought that time marches on, but it does and folks memories do too.
Vietnam casualties, 56,000 seems like a lot, but when scattered around the continent, are few and far between. Survivors are now 60+.

 

[erudne]

My great uncle was gassed at the age of 18 in WW1
Many uncles served in WW2
I served and after me no one went in,, even after 9-11 no one joined though I tried to re-up, I was shocked

 

[U201491]

Taku, you're just getting older.
I'm going later in the week to visit Jay in Corvallis.
I hate the thought that time marches on, but it does and folks memories do too.
Vietnam casualties, 56,000 seems like a lot, but when scattered around the continent, are few and far between. Survivors are now 60+.

That should make no difference, and every citizen in the US owes their freedom to the men and women that have fought for them. They just don't care beyond the end of their Ipod device anymore. The schools have vilified them all, and the kids have received no training in morals and values or respect.

 

[orygun]

Unfortunately, Taku, most of today's US population has the feelings of entitlement. I don't want to turn this into a political "anything", but they are the reason this country is having the trouble it is.

 

[U201491]

Unfortunately, Taku, most of today's US population has the feelings of entitlement. I don't want to turn this into a political "anything", but they are the reason this country is having the trouble it is.

Yes and We sure thank all those here that went out and actually showed their respects today.
We have gone twice this weekend. Hard to stay away from them when you think of what all we lost, but also what we all gained from all they did. Too many family in the ground now

 

[erudne]

Americans Gave Their Lives To Defeat The Nazis. The Dutch Have Never Forgotten…




Ancient history in today's academia.

Via WAPO

They haven't forgotten. For 70 years, the Dutch have come to a verdant U.S. cemetery outside this small village to care for the graves of Americans killed in World War II.

On Sunday, they came again, bearing Memorial Day bouquets for men and women they never knew, but whose 8,300 headstones the people of the Netherlands have adopted as their own.

For the American relatives of the fallen, it was an outpouring of gratitude almost as stunning as the rows of white marble crosses and Jewish Stars of David at the Netherlands American Cemetery. Each grave has been adopted by a Dutch or, in some cases, Belgian or German family, as well as local schools, companies and military organizations. More than 100 people are on a waiting list to become caretakers.

At the cemetery's annual commemoration, 6,000 people poured onto the 65-acre burial grounds just a few miles from the German border, including scores of descendants of American war dead who had traveled here from all over the United States. They were eager to pay tribute to parents or grandparents who had died to defeat the Nazis. But they also wanted to thank the Dutch families who had been tending the graves of their loved ones, often passing the responsibility from one generation to the next.

For Arthur Chotin, 70, who had come from Annapolis, Md., to finally meet the couple caring for his father's resting place, the devotion of the Dutch was a source of awe.

"What would cause a nation recovering from losses and trauma of their own to adopt the sons and daughters of another nation?" asked Chotin, the only American descendant to speak on Sunday. "And what would keep that commitment alive for all of these years, when the memory of that war has begun to fade? It is a unique occurrence in the history of civilization."

Keep reading

 

[old11bravo]

Spent the majority of this day with my boys on the Color Guard (and one gal) honoring the the true meaning of the day at the Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent. Great turn out this year.

I'll barbeque tomorrow.

 

[old11bravo]

This was a few of us on Friday at Tahoma. We spend the fourth Friday of every month performing 3 volley firing details for the families that are laying their deceased veteran loved ones to rest. I always leave with a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart at the end of these days.

 

[ChiefStealth]

Hey! Thanks for helping out at Tahoma. My wife's parents are resting there.

 

[old11bravo]

It is truly an honor. Honestly I feel selfish about it because I leave with such a good, fulfilled feeling when I complete a day working there. My heart pours out to the families.

 

[Quartermaster]

Needed to bring this thread back to life.

 

[old11bravo]

We will be there again this Monday. Thanks for the revival OQ!!