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Title: MEMORIAL DAY
Source: An OOrigin: LZ Memories BBS - "Always Green Smoke!" (19:100/
URL Source: [None]
Published: May 26, 2017
Author: For he today, that sheds his blood with
Post Date: 2017-05-26 18:06:58 by Luke The Spook
Keywords: None
Views: 472
Comments: 10

MEMORIAL DAY

Memorial Day is their day, isn't it? It is supposed to be the day a grateful nation pauses to quietly thank the more than one million men and women who have died in military service to their country since the Revolutionary War.

Or is it the day the beach resorts kick into high gear for the summer season, the day the strand is covered by fish-belly white people basting themselves in coconut oil, the day the off-season rates end and the weekend you can't get in a seaside seafood restaurant with anything less than a one hour wait.

Or is is one of the biggest shopping center sales days of the year, a day when hunting for a parking space is the prime sport for the holiday stay-at-homers?

Or is it the weekend when more people will kill themselves on the highways than any other weekend and Highway Patrol troopers work overtime picking up the pieces?

I think the men and women who died for us would understand what we do with their day. I hope they would, because if they wouldn't, if they would have insisted that it be a somber, respectful day of remembrance, then we have blown it and dishonored their sacrifice.

I knew some of those who died, and the guys I knew would have understood.

They liked a sunny beach and a cold beer and a hot babe in a black bikini, too. They would have enjoyed packing the kids, the inflatable rafts, the coolers, and the suntan lotion in the car and heading for the lake. They would have enjoyed staying at home and cutting the grass and getting together with some friends and cooking some steaks on the grill, too.

But they didn't get the chance. They blew up in the Marine Barracks in Beirut and died in the oily waters of the Persian Gulf. They caught theirs at the airstrip in Grenada in the little war everyone laughed at. They bought the farm in the Ia Drang Valley and on Heartbreak Ridge, Phu Bai, and at Hue. They froze at the Chosin Reservoir and were shot at the Pusan Perimeter. They drowned in the surf at Omaha Beach or fell in the fetid jungles of Guadalcanal. They were at the Soame and at San Juan Hill and at Gettysburg and at Cerro Gordo and at Valley Forge.

They couldn't be here with us this weekend, but I think they would understand that we don't spend the day in tears and heart-wrenching memorials. They wouldn't want that. Grief is not why they died. They died so we could go fishing. They died so another father could hold his laughing little girl over the waves. They died so another father could toss a baseball to his son in their backyard while the charcoal is getting white. They died so another buddy could drink a beer on his day off. They died so a family could get in the station wagon and go shopping and maybe get some ice cream on the way home.

They won't mind that we have chosen their day to have our first big outdoor party of the year. But they wouldn't mind, either, if we took just a second and thought about them.

Some will think of them formally, of course. Wreaths will be laid in small, sparsely attended ceremonies in military cemeteries and at monuments at state capitols and in small town's squares. Flags will fly over the graves, patriotic words will be spoken and a few people there will probably feel a little anger that no more people showed up. They'll think no one else remembers.

But we do remember. We remember Smitty and Chico and Davey and the guys who died. We remember the deal we made: If we buy it, we said, drink a beer for me.

I'll do it for you, guys. I'll drink that beer for you today, and I'll sit on that beach for you, and I'll check out the girls for you and, just briefly, I'll think of you. I won't let your memory spoil the trip but you'll be on that sunny beach with me today.

I will not mourn your deaths this Memorial Day, my friends. Rather, I'll celebrate the life you gave me.

This Bud's for you, brother!

For Boogie Man, Matthew, and Combat Kelly

Luke The Spook

Au Phuc Dup - Phu Bai/Hue '65-'66

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#9. To: All (#0)

I received this well-stated Memorial Day message from a retired Army Ranger. Something to think about while you are enjoying the weekend.

This weekend is not for Active Duty Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors or Marines. It is not for Veterans that have completed their Tour of Service to our Great nation. It is for one thing only, the remembrance of all those Men and Women that gave the ultimate sacrifice in combat service for our country. Most people will not realize what this weekend is truly for. For many it is the start of Summer, it is a long weekend to go to the beach, to the mountains or on a mini-vacation with the family. For those of us that have lost Family members, friends, Brothers and Sisters or team mates it is a different kind of weekend. It is a time to remember each and every one of them as they lived and as they died. Most lived a Warrior’s life and died a Warriors death. Many of them died in service to their fellow unit members. Not because of some high calling of our nation. But, because they got the call to serve our nation, they were serving their fellow man. It was at the personal level that they served, it was at the personal level that that endured hardship, pain, tears and blood with others like them in a unit they cared about. On the battlefield, it matters not what your skin color is, it matters not what your religion is, it matters not what your gender is, all that matters is that you are there, at the side of your fellow warrior. Knowing that no matter which way you turn, there is another next to you. Knowing that whatever happens they are with you. Knowing that if something tragic happens they will carry you home. Warriors fight harder when they know that no matter what happens, someone is there for them and with them. That no matter what happens they will be remembered by their fellow warriors. So this weekend, if you have lost a team mate, a family member in combat service take the time to remember them as they were. Warriors fighting for you, to be able to enjoy this weekend in Freedom, in a country that allows people to express their opinion, no matter how stupid, or insulting. To enjoy the time with family because they pulled you thru the fire or thru the hardships endured. Please do not thank a Veteran for his service, do that on Veterans Day, but, please tell a Veteran that you remember his fellow Warriors by living a life worth dying for. Because that is what actually happened. A Warrior died, defending our way of life and the way of life for others that may not have all the freedoms we have in America. We have great Men and Women serving today in harm’s way for that, to destroy the evil that confronts us. Fighting the evil that stalks us, fighting the evil that lurks in wait for a single moment of weakness. Fighting and Dying. Our prayers go out to those that have lost loved ones in this great fight. Make life worth dying for, by living to the fullest potential you have inside of you. Carry on that Warrior spirit in everything you do.

Luke The Spook  posted on  2017-05-28   10:04:06 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: Luke The Spook, 4 (#9)

Lod  posted on  2017-05-28   10:56:11 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


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