OT. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend, but don't forget...

Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration
Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: OT. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend, but don't forget...
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Patrick on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 01:43 pm:

During your Memorial Day three day weekend, please pause for a moment and remember those that gave their lives to defend the freedoms we all enjoy.

Semper Fi.

Jim Patrick
Sgt. USMC
Veteran '72-'77

The below two photos are of the American Cemetery at Normandy in France where many of the D-Day dead are buried.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 06:58 pm:

Thank you, to you, my friend.
W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 08:04 pm:

This is one of the monuments at the American cemetery at Margraten, The Netherlands. They also deserve our remembrance, perhaps even more than others.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hap Tucker on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 08:31 pm:

Jim,

Thank you. We owe so much to the men and women who have given all so that we may enjoy our freedom. And while we cannot directly ever repay them, we can remember them and the sacrifice they made. And we can honor them and be a help and encouragement to their families. That gray haired elderly woman may have lost her husband because he was serving our country. And while in the old Ford, I never get impatient with them, when I'm in my modern car, I have to remind myself -- that their husband, son or daughter may be the reason I have the freedom to drive at all.

A special thank you to John Regan and others who never had the chance to know their Fathers because their parents gave their lives in the service of our country. And a special thank you to the mothers and fathers who have given their sons or daughters so that we can be free. Many of our Allies have their own day of remembrance -- and they too have those who never returned.

Freedom isn't free. There are many who have contributed to its purchase and others who gave all.

Gratefully submitted,

Hap l9l5 cut off


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Semprez-Templeton, CA on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 09:20 pm:

Thank you Hap. This son will never forget.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Leming on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 09:57 pm:

Jim, thank you and everyone who served, fought and are still fight for our freedom. The cemeteries are very sobering. I've visited one in Luxemburg, and Honolulu. Some day I want to go to Normandy. My Dad served in WWII in the Navy.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Harvey Decker on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 10:07 pm:

flag

Battle of Belleau Wood,Meus-Argonne,Battle of the Corral Sea,Guadalcanal,Battle of Midway, Kwajalein,Saipan,Eniwetok,Iwo Jima,D-Day (Normandy),Battle of the Bulge, Remagen,Yellow River, Chosin Reservoir, Iron Triangle, Battle of Bong Son,Dak To, Tet Offensive,Battle of Khe Sanh,Invasion of Kuwaite,Yemen,Mosul,Battle of Al-Qa'im,Kandahar and The Battle of Wanat.

*** ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL ***

To every GI in and out of uniform. May God bless you one and all........

"Until Every One Comes Home" USO


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve in Tennessee on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 10:07 pm:

Sat on a flight out of Atlanta yesterday and watched 4 people get called out of coach for upgrades to first class. Not a single one of them offered their upgrade to the young soldier with no legs sitting in coach.

Nuff said.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Friday, May 25, 2012 - 11:01 pm:



This is truly a weekend to remember...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Doug - Braidwood, IL on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 12:45 am:

Words to live by:

Land of the free, because of the brave.

As for me and my family, THANK YOU to all who have provided the comfort by which we live.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Halpin on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 09:20 am:

Have a pleasant Memorial Day my military 'Brothers and Sisters'. You notice I didn't use the word 'happy'. This is a somber time, especially for us, to honor and pay tribute to the real heroes. The American soldiers buried in the grave yards all over this planet.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 09:24 am:

Dennis, there was an English member of the Royal British Legion here one year for the Inter-vet Memorial Day service at Jefferson Barracks. I met and chatted with him. He was very unhappy with a local journalist who had used the phrase "celebrate Memorial Day." He said it wasn't a celebration, it was a solemn observance. I agree.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Halpin on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 12:40 pm:

Dick, I'm sure we who have fought in a war could all get together and 'celebrate' the memories of those who didn't come back with us with stories like my Viet Nam (era) Army Mrs. will be doing with all our 'Brothers and Sisters' at the Military Heritage Museum on Monday (while I'm stuck up here in Indiana), But I'm sure that wasn't the kind of 'celebrate' the journalist had in mind because it's really one of those
"If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand" situations anyway.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Patrick on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 01:01 pm:

A somber remembrance of all those who went before so, we who follow, are free to do so...

Semper Fi


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Randy Schultz-Rathbun on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 01:19 pm:

Memorial day became very personal for me in 1981 when Rick Wenden, JP Gant, Randy Jensen and Dave Chadsey died in the crash of Jolly 51. In the next 25 years I lost more than 30 friends. When memorial day comes I see faces and names of friends, most of whom died while trying to save the lives of strangers.

But it doesn't bother me to see those strangers at the beach or on a picnic on Memorial Day. Over the last thirty years I've given a lot of thought about how to properly observe Memorial Day. Most of my fallen comrades would say they gave their lives so we could enjoy those holidays in peace and safety with our families. So go out and drive your Model T, have a picnic, go to the beach this weekend in honor of those who paid the price so we could enjoy the day.

Randy S-R, Col, USAF, Ret
Air Rescue Service
"These things we do, that others may live."


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ed in California on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 01:59 pm:

I found this on another site...


The Bottle

Most of you that know me know I'm not a drinker,.... (But there was a time),.... However there is a old bottle of Crown Royal I know of that has been with the 'Last Man" on and off for a little over 40 years,...

There was a small group of men that worked together for Uncle Sam, That was fortunate enough to have procured a 1957 dated bottle of Crown Royal,.. It was on a Memorial day a long time ago in a land far far away that that the label was broke for the first time, and the bottle opened.

Those Six young men all took a shot from that bottle, Remembering comrades lost. That day that bottle of booze took on a special meaning,... They all shared in it, and we were a team. Four of those original six men returned to "The World" and one of the guys from Tampa Fla. ended up getting it back home.

As the years went by,... Those four remaining men vowed to get together and finish up that old bottle,... And one time in 1976 they were able to all come together,... Four more shots were consumed,... but everyone was thinking of the two empty shot glasses.....

That Bottle was in S.E. Asia, Michigan, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Washington, Alaska and Texas,.... The four men mostly lost contact with each other and the bottle was never finished.

One of the men received a phone call out of the blue in 1982 from the one that was "The keeper of the bottle". He was going to be in Michigan and wanted to stop by for a visit. With all the time that went by, the meeting was just a little uncomfortable,... catching up on civilian life,.. but realizing other than what they did in the service (the stuff they really didn't want to remember),.. they really had very little in common.

The keeper of the bottle told the other guy,... that one of there old team was killed in a car accident. and the other died of a burst appendix. It was just the two of them................

Then came the big shock,.. when the keeper of the bottle looked his old team mate square in the eyes and said,.... I have lung cancer,... Doctor said I have a pretty good chance of beating it......... Then he gets a box out of his car, brings it to his old team mate and hands it to him,....

"I want you to hang onto this for me until I get better" said the keeper of the bottle,....... Then we'll get together sometime and Chase the Dragon.
"But" said the keeper of the bottle,...... "If I don't make it,... it's all up to you........ "Take us with you" he said,..... whenever big events happen in your life, Have a shot for us,.... take us with you through your life,... don't forget us,.........."

There is a creed in Force Recon is that you never leave a man behind,.... But that's exactly what happened. But That last man filled a shot glass and had a toast on his wedding day,... when his first son was born, when his second son was born, when his son was married,.. when his first grandson was born,.. and his second grandson........

The Keeper of the bottle was a pretty smart guy,... as the last man advances in years, and he has been "taking them along with him",.... on big events in his life, one shot at a time... the bottle, like years left in his life gets a little less all the time.. And it looks like it might just come out even.

Every time that last man has a shot,... he remembers that day a long time ago in a land far far away,.. and five friends lost in the night.....


Honor all those lost to protect our freedoms,....... Take them with you.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Aldrich Orting Wa on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 02:18 pm:

The Henri-Chappelle Cemetary in Belgium is where my Uncle Roy Stolle is buried. This cemetary covers 57 acres. All male members of my family have served in the Armed Forces and fortunately for us, Uncle Roy was the only one we lost. He died in the Battle of the Bulge.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Aldrich Orting Wa on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 02:52 pm:

Paying our respects. There are seven Medal of Honor recipients buried in the Orting Soldiers Home Cemetary.





John and Renea Aldrich

USN 1972-1997


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Patrick on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 02:56 pm:

Such a waste of noble men. Every cross or headstone is a life lost in it's youthful prime. With their whole lives ahead of them, many too young to have ever experienced the love of a woman, they did not want to die. Everyone of them thought that it couldn't happen to them. That they would survive and, when they were struck down, if it was not too sudden and they experienced a moment of consciousness before they died, it was with surprise and regret that they realized they would never be going home as they thought of those they would be leaving behind... The last word uttered by many a men was that of the most important and perhaps only woman in his young life... "Momma"

Rest in Peace, my comrades. We won't forget what you did for us. Thank you all.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joe Van Evera on Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 04:04 pm:

Peaceful settings and surroundings.... but I have read A LOT about the Bataan death march, the hell ships and the pow camps in Japan. It brings tears to my eyes to think of the pain and suffering these boys (yes boys..... many just 18 years old) suffered at the brutal hands of the enemy. It makes me so humble to even attempt to "thank" them all for what they did. May God bless them one and all, and may they rest in peace in such beautiful places.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Schrope - Upland, IN on Sunday, May 27, 2012 - 10:05 pm:

For those five years younger than my father:
http://www.homeofheroes.com/profiles/profiles_young.html

and those five years younger than me:
http://www.homeofheroes.com/profiles/profiles_versace.html


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Sam Humphries on Monday, May 28, 2012 - 10:16 am:

Our home and our tribute to America's service men and women. We fly these flags every day that in some way recognizes and remembers our VETERANS. I served in the U S Army and had a son that served 25 years in the Marine Corp retiring in 2008 as a Sgt. Major.

God Bless America and our troops who have let me post this message and fly our Service Branch flags.Memorial Day Tribute


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Patrick on Monday, May 28, 2012 - 02:30 pm:

It is 2:30 pm EST, on 5/28/12. Memorial Day. I am watching the 10 part series, "Band of Brothers", (Part 6 of 10, "Bastogne") now on the Spike Channel. "Band of Brothers" is one of the best, most realistic true dramatizations of the ordeal of the common foot soldiers in "Easy Company", as he fought across Europe after D-Day. If you have not seen it, please take this opportunity to watch it. No matter what branch of service you served in, you will come away with a new understanding and appreciation of the sufferings they endured for us. Semper Fi. Jim Patrick


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Monday, May 28, 2012 - 03:42 pm:

I just ran across this photo. I don't see how anyone can look at it and not be moved.

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/photo-boy- receives-flag-fathers-casket/566386


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joe Van Evera on Monday, May 28, 2012 - 03:50 pm:

I've seen it before too, but yes, it is very, very moving.


Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.
Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration