Society

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

Best wishes to all on this Memorial Day. It is a sobering holiday as we think of all of the brave men and women that we have lost around the world. I went this morning for dawn hike on Billy Goat trail for a quiet start of the day as the sun was coming up over the Potomac. It was glorious.

My family was fortunate to have my father, Jack Turley, make it back from the Pacific in World War II. So many did not. It is hard to articulate the debt that we owe those families of the soldiers, sailors, Marines, coast guardsmen, airmen, and Merchant Marines who gave “the last full measure of devotion” to this country. We always make sure that our kids do not think of this day as simply another free school day but rather a time to remember those who gave so much to us and our country.

Thank you to all of our contributors and regulars who have served or have children or spouses serving this country. Best wishes for a safe and joyful holiday.

45 thoughts on “HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY”

  1. Ari, There was a great piece in the San Diego paper last month on the 40th anniversary of the fall of Viet Nam. The aircraft carrier, the Midway, is now a museum in San Diego Bay. it was on that carrier that the iconic video footage was shot of helicopters being dumped into the ocean. Operation Frequent Wind was the mission to get as many people out of Viet Nam before Saigon fell. The flight director is still alive and lives in San Diego. All the tour guides on the museum are former sailors who served on that carrier. This 84 year old man still volunteers as a guide. He ordered those helicopters be pushed over the side because he had run out of room for more aircraft to land. He had helicopters, overloaded w/ people, circling the carrier and running low on fuel. During the chaos, there was a Cessna circling the ship. It dropped leaflets asking permission to land. On board was Major Buang Ly and his family. He almost got shot out of the sky! After it was determined it was indeed a family, permission was granted to land.

  2. Aridog
    You’re very welcome. My father, Frank Mascagni, (1923-2002) served in the United States Army in WW II from 1-9-1943 through 12-13-1945 in the Headquarters Battery 538th Field Artillery Battalion in Europe. I remember going to the VFW and American Legion with him as a boy and was taught to respect all servicemen and women who served and honor those that died. Today I do just that,

  3. To assure the inclusiveness of all on this day, let me repeat what I said earlier:

    For all of those who did’t have the opportunity to wear the uniform, you still did your jobs, without which those in uniform many have perished. Thank you all.

  4. I always look forward to Holidays and the great comments from our criminal defense barrister, Frank Mascagni. I hope all is well in Kentucky. Sorry our Badgers had to knock you out of the NCAA Tournament. But, if you’re a Louisville fan, you may have liked it?

  5. Just now a beautifully restored B-25 flew over my house, as it does every year on this day. You can hear it coming a long way off by the roar of its engines…and easily get outside to see it….at about 700 feet. I am grateful my town still has a large parade and multiple over fights as part of it. The B-25 is the best for me because it was part of the war I was born at the beginning of…and my war had its signature aircraft too…no one can miss the whop whop whop noise of a Huey UH-1 either.

  6. Happy to have my Navy daughter stationed close to home now, so it’s possible to share this day honoring the military dead with a living military loved one. All the kids managed to make it to the lake house and we’re enjoying our stormy Memorial Day.

  7. I read a piece yesterday. A survey conducted this year shows a very wide disconnect between the military and the general public. There are less people who have family, friends, neighbors in the armed services. The gap is also socioeconomic, the more educated and affluent, the less empathetic to the sacrifices made by the military, and their families. Some of us here are old enough to have family who served during WW2, like Jack Turley. My dad, and 5 uncles served in that war. I had 2 uncles serve in Korea, and a cousin serve in Viet Nam. Thankfully, all lived. One uncle almost died in the horrific Battle of the Bulge, Hitler’s last offensive. Uncle Dom spent 6 months in a UK hospital and lived w/ shrapnel and a nasty facial scar his entire life. My cousin returned from Viet Nam a heroin addict. You see, WW2 was the last war that was fought by members of all socioeconomic levels. If one doesn’t have family or friends in the armed services, the most likely way for a person to connect w/ the sacrifices military families make is if you live near a base. One of the many things I love about living in San Diego during the winter is being close to military families. People in San Diego truly respect what these brave men and women do for us. Businesses have discounts for military families. The Padres have half price tickets on Sunday for military families. The team wears camouflage uniforms every Sunday @ home.

    I saw a heartbreaking photo yesterday. A sixteen year old girl sitting by the grave of her father, weeping.
    Being a history lover, I love to walk and read headstones in cemeteries. I will then go to the local library and get some local history. if you want to stay connected w/ the sacrifices these people make, walk through a military cemetery. In San Diego, on beautiful Point Loma, is the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. It is, the most picturesque cemetery I have ever visited. The interments go back to the 1840’s US/Mexican War. The cemetery is one of the highest spots in San Diego, looking out over the bay, downtown, and Coronado on one side, the open Pacific Ocean on the other side. Get out of your car and read some headstones. You will be instantly empathetic, if you have a soul.

  8. Need more coffee…that heading IMG_8590.jpeg was supposed to be frankmascagniiii. I’d copied the jpeg to find the photo, while I was thinking about my response to “frankmascagniiii” and there were to many to figure out which one was meant, and it posted in error when I finished by response to “frankmascagniiii”.

  9. IMG_8590.jpeg Thank you for the videos you posted.

    For all of those who did’t have the opportunity to wear the uniform, you still did your jobs, without which those in uniform many have perished. Thank you all.

  17. That’s why combat vets and their immediate family should get the same healthcare that our elected officials {the ones that sent them there} get. God bless them all

  18. Look up in the sky. Be on the lookout for Blue Angels and Thunderbirds

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