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.
Every Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, I now think of my visit to the cemeteries in Normandy a few years ago. I’ve never had a more spiritual experience than I did while walking through those cemeteries. Special thanks to my uncles who served and came back, and special thanks to my cousin who served and didn’t come back.
For those of you who have not been to Normandy, I urge you to go if you are able.
Props to the veterans.
From the founding of our country, our most powerful have not wanted to treat you with the gratitude veterans deserve.
The creation of Washington, D.C. as a federal enclave aptly illustrates this point. Our founding fathers didn’t want to fairly compensate the rank and file soldiers.
I spent many moments of this day and every day since April 1970 in Vietnam, thinking about the 19 year old, mid-West farm kid who died, right next to me, without a word. I sure do hope he’s been ok all these years. I hope his family has been ok.
I got a Purple Heart and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge. He got a body bag. He’s a hero.
Officers die too. The Platoon 1/6 was killed by an RPG round in the lap on my 6th night out. The officer was college educated, capable, competent, ambitious and from a good family; then he was dead.
Robert McNamar’s “futile war” was “wrong, terribly wrong.”
John Kerry said the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a lie.
Sometimes I wonder if America’s leaders and laws are always right – correct and constitutional.
Sometimes I wonder if the this is the America of its Founders. It kinda doesn’t look the same as 1789, huh?
**********
War is Hell.
Combat is a M————.
It’s not the uniform you wear in the military.
It’s the MOS.
A SHORT STORY [RESPECT THE MILITARY SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN]
The Box Lunches
I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. ‘I’m glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,’ I thought.
Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation.
‘Where are you headed?’ I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. ‘Petawawa. We’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we’re being deployed to Afghanistan
After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that box lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time…
As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. ‘No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn’t be worth five bucks. I’ll wait till we get to base.’ His friend agreed.
I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. ‘Take a lunch to all those soldiers.’ She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes w et with tears, she thanked me. ‘My son was a soldier in Iraq; it’s almost like you are doing it for him.’
Picking up ten boxes, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, ‘Which do you like best – beef or chicken?’
‘Chicken,’ I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. ‘This is your thanks.’
After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. ‘I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.’ He handed me twenty-five dollars.
Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, ‘I want to shake your hand.’ Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain’s hand. With a booming voice he said, ‘I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.’ I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.
Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm
When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!
Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. ‘It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.’
Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers.
As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little…
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to ‘The United States of America’ for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.’
May God give you the strength and courage to pass this along to everyone on your email buddy list….
I JUST DID
There is nothing attached. Just send this to people in your address book. Do not let it stop with you. Of all the gifts you could give a Marine, Soldier, Sailor, Airman, & others deployed in harm’s way, prayer is the very best one.
JUST A COMMON SOLDIER [IN HONOR OF ALL VETERANS]
(A Soldier Died Today)
by A. Lawrence Vaincourt
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.
And tho’ sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we’ll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won’t note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?
A politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps, a pension small.
It’s so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?
He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.
© 1987 A. Lawrence Vaincourt
red poppies on Memorial day…
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCgQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usmemorialday.org%2F%3Fpage_id%3D2&ei=0J9jVZztHoehyQSp4YDgDA&usg=AFQjCNFue5KdAaynr7wqum5sQw-1tq6lvQ&sig2=uJ8Wt2aEYKbxi–k6A5tvg
Jack, I said “many” not most. Typical dishonest liberal reply.
God bless our veterans
We can each show appreciation for our freedom by doing something tangible for our veterans. Everyone can help in their own way.
Most “liberals” do not have derision for the military. What we worship is a different matter– Father, Son and the Holy Spirit not John McCann.
laudyms, anarmyofficer chose to use the word, “lost” and not your word “squandered.” At least on this day, I would hope people would put their agenda aside and not be derisive of his way of expressing his sorrow. Many liberals can’t hide their derision for the military and you just exemplified that.
anonymous, The Western culture does not understand the need to have an adjustment ritual for soldiers who have fought in war. Their enlistment is over, they are simply sent home. The American Indian culture had sacred rituals for braves after being involved in a war, helping them make the transition back to “civilian” life. We are in some ways, much less evolved than our Indian culture.
“Lost” ?? too often squandered.
I’m not a fan of any “hallmark” holidays, but an occasion to thank a loved one or a friend for their service should be taken advantage of (not saying that this holiday is a hallmark holiday). Having had a grandfather who lost his leg at the battle of the bulge, another who served in the Korean war, a father who served during the Vietnam era, and having been deployed alongside my brother numerous times… I appreciate the tanks (and thanks) that folks give to our veterans. (went back to check my spelling…. happy puns!)
To my friends and comrades lost, I think of you whenever I see folks in uniform.
CPT J
USA
RET
Commentary: Halting vet suicides requires culture change
By Sean Parnell, Special to Military Times 7:13 p.m. EDT May 19, 2015
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/opinion/2015/05/19/stopping-veteran-suicide/27533823/
“In April, my Army unit that served in Afghanistan passed a dark milestone: We’ve now lost more men to suicide than we lost in combat.
During a 485-day deployment in 2006-07, a single member of our platoon was killed (though many, myself included, were wounded — we had an 85 percent casualty rate).
But since returning home, three members of my platoon have taken their own lives. To grapple with the fact that we lost three times as many men to post-war suicide than to combat is to begin to grasp the true burden of war that veterans carry.”
Two nights ago I watched a documentary on cable TV describing the new memorial, in DC, to those wounded veterans who came home with permanent disabilities and scars from war. Odd that it was aired on Aljeezra-America and not once, to my knowledge, on any of the usual cable or broadcast news. It was a very fitting and respectful documentary…perhaps not the one you’d expect from the outlet that broadcast it. None-the-less, there it was.
Vietnam Vets never expected this.. WELCOME HOME!
https://youtu.be/Qp0LYc4IHnY
Johnny Cash – The Old Ragged Flag:
https://youtu.be/Vgpp0V7sDbE
frank mascagni my remarks were and are intended to remind everyone that we all participated when necessary and it enabled many more of us in uniform to come home walking and talking. Though this day commemorates veterans in uniform, it really represents us all. The few who mocked me when I walked across the University of Washington campus in dress greens, with my chevrons showing, were outliers and had no effect on me. I actually felt sorry for them. Hopefully a few of those miscreants grew up and learned they had something to be proud of, even if later than most. For those who did not, I still feel sorry for them.
You do indeed. And, after shaking either of their hands, I would count my fingers! I have to believe Pitino is unique in having coached both those great schools, I have a friend who went to Providence College and is a basketball junky. He had the fortune of attending Providence when Marvin Barnes[recently deceased] and Ernie D performed their magic. Marvin lived down the hall from him. I met Marvin @ a party and he was a very engaging guy. Wasted talent due to drugs. Anyway, this friend of mine LOVED Pitino when he coached for Providence, although it was only a couple years. Both Pitino and Calipari are the kind of guys you love if they’re on your side.
Nick Spinelli
Thank you for your comments. I went to law school at the University of Louisville so my loyalty is to the Louisville cardinals. As you know, we have two passionate Italian NCAA men’s basketball coaches here in the bluegrass: Rick Pitino and John Calipari.