Memorial Day

[tin can]

Remembering and honoring all who have served.

[wevans]

[silverking]

Thank you to all my fellow vets for your service and a special remembrance for those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom.

AX1, USN
1980-1988

[ferris1248]

Good morning and have a happy and respectful Memorial Day.

[Harmsway]

Amen.

[MudDucker]

To all those who served and most especially to all those who gave all, my humble thanks for the freedom my family and I enjoy!

This week someone sent me a random email. The email was about Tinian, the little island in the Pacific. It so happens, this was my father's last assignment before being brought home. He served in the med corp assault group. He was scheduled for med support for the invasion of Japan. He witnessed the Enola Gay being loaded with the bomb. He participated in the pre-flight and post flight evaluation of the flight crew. He got thrown in the brig for an hour for looking under the current at the bomb when he passed it on the way back from the Philippines to get supplies. The commander on the Island bailed him out and took him on a tour of the plane and the bomb. When asked what the thought about the bomb, he said it was a life saver, because they expected a mortality rate of 80% or more in the invasion of Japan. He talked very little about what they went through island hopping in the Pacific, except when those whom he served with got together to enjoy a toddy and a remembrance. They were heroes to face the craziness of the Japanese soldier and not turn and run. Instead, they chose weapons such as the early machine guns and 45 cal pistols so they could knock these crazed warriors down with one shot. Unlike today's so called modern warfare, the Japanese actually targeted the red cross. My father and most of that generation is all but gone, but we have a new group of warriors today.

I remember and give my thanks today.

[Sir reel]

Happy Memorial Day to us all and Thanks to those who gave it to us!

A special thought and moment of pride for my Father who passed away 2 years ago. He served in the signal corp during WWII. A special thought and moment of pride for all the great fellows I served with in the 966th AEW&C. A special thought and moment of pride to my oldest Son who is on his second deployment. A special thought and moment of pride to my middle Son who served 4 years in the Air Force flying with a bounty on his head from Saddam Hussein. A special thought and moment of pride to my Youngest... a Fireman and first responder in Lake County and soon to be a Daddy for the first time himself.

[bman]

Ronald Reagan at Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Day 1982
"I have no illusions about what little I can add now to the silent testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country. Words are even more feeble on this Memorial Day, for the sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them."

[FUTCHCAIRO]

HEY MUDDRUCKER, I ALSO WITNESSED THE LOADING OF THE BOMB ON THAT OLD B-29. I WAS ACTIVE IN THE STRAFFING AND BOMBING OF THE ISLANDS OF TINIAN, GUAM, SAIPAN IN THE MARIANNAS GROUP OF ISLANDS SO WE WOULD NOT LOOSE SO MANY REAL MARINES WHEN THEY HIT THE BEACH HEAD OF THESE ISLANDS AND SECURING THEM SO WE COULD GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO JAPAN TO MAKE BOMBING RUNS FROM THERE.
THAT SEEMS LIKE A LIFE TIME AGO, SLEEP IN PEACE MY FRIENDS. YOU DID A GOOD JOB.
PA THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA
SEMPER FI

[ferris1248]

You have my heartfelt thanks Pa.

[illinoisfisherman]

Dad flew in the Pacific in a B-29. The pictures he had and those he still has should have gone to some museum.