Happy Memorial Day

[LDAHL]

Since the end of the First World War, my family has compiled an unblemished record of cowardice, limiting our casualties to training accidents and storms at sea. So I greatly appreciate the sacrifice of better people than myself.

I find this a good day to reflect on the difference between words and deeds.

[iris lilies]

Since the end of the First World War, my family has compiled an unblemished record of cowardice, limiting our casualties to training accidents and storms at sea. So I greatly appreciate the sacrifice of better people than myself.

I find this a good day to reflect on the difference between words and deeds.

Thank you to everyone on this board and their families who served in the military. You dont havr to lose your life or a limb to earn my respect.

[Teacher Terry]

My dad spent 4 years in WW2. His entire regiment was wiped out while storming the beach in Normandy. He on the other hand was in the hospital. He didn’t find out what happened to them for 2
years. I call that good luck. A good friend of mine was shot 4x’s and was one of a handful that managed to escape during a battle in Vietnam. All 3 of my husband’s served but none were in battle. My ex was repairing aircraft in Vietnam but had issues from what he saw and wasn’t even in battle. My stepson is career military and I hope he never sees combat. When you sign up you are willing to give up your life and that’s good enough for me.

[JaneV2.0]

My father's life was saved in the Pacific when he tripped just as he was shot climbing over a fence and the bullet skimmed his back. Later, he fell off a cliff. In his company, the word was "somebody watch the Captain." I'm not sure why he was so clumsy--he lettered in 2 or 3 sports and played triple-A ball. But whatever saves your life, I guess. Most of my male relatives and ancestors served in the military, a fact I'm conflicted about. The Marines sent me an invite when I graduated. I thought they had made a mistake.

So many lives lost, and very little justification for any of it. I salute those who did their duty, and also conscientious objectors who followed their convictions.

[Alan]

I'm a Vietnam era veteran who never saw combat on foreign soil. The two most humbling events I've ever experienced were standing among the remains of heroes at Arlington National Cemetery and Tomb of the Unknowns in Washington DC, and The American Cemetery along Omaha Beach in Normandy France. Both times I was overcome by the certainty that I didn't deserve to stand in the presence of greater men than me.

[catherine]

Yes, our veterans truly deserve our respect. I don't know how they/you do it.

My father-in-law was in the British Army and survived Dunkirk. DH was in the Marines during the Vietnam era--like Alan, didn't see combat, but he's a very unlikely Marine. He did it because he was afraid he was going to make bad decisions in his early 20s. Maybe some would consider joining the Marines to be a bad decision, but he's very proud of his accomplishments during that time, rightfully so.

God bless all on this board who served and bless our family members who served as well.

[Teacher Terry]

My friends’ Dad was sent behind enemy lines to do something and when they saw the Koreans approaching left him there. He survived because the Koreans marched at night and he was small like them. Plus they didn’t look each other in the eye. So he got a Korean uniform and joined them marching at night being the last one. He just kept his hat pulled down and looked down. As daylight came he would fall out of line and hide.

[SteveinMN]

I had a high draft number but the Vietnam war ended before I could be drafted. My father (and his brothers) served in WWII (my father drafted one week out of high school; I cannot imagine sending an 18-year-old to do that kind of job). I do not believe any of them saw combat, though my father was one of the troops massed to invade Japan if the atomic bomb did not serve its purpose. None of these soldiers talked much about their service and I am not aware of any of them ever meeting up with fellow soldiers or attending reunions or even wearing hats or jackets that mentioned their service. But I know they served.

The National Guard daughter of a friend of ours just returned this week from a stint in the Middle East at a joint-forces medical facility. Almost an entire year away from her two-year-old boy, who never quite got the hang of Facetime visits substituting for bedtime reading, and from her husband, who was mom and dad for most of year between moves and job changes. Even without seeing combat, this daughter has sacrificed a chunk of her life (and her family's) to serve. I know she served.

I honor all soldiers today. I know Memorial Day is supposed to be for the dead warriors, but I think all soldiers give up something of themselves to serve, so I will remember the living and, particularly, the dead.

[Teacher Terry]

I totally agree Steve.

[frugal-one]

Pence told at a speech he gave .... expect to be called to duty. Scary!

[oldhat]

WWII was the best thing that ever happened to my father. He was just a shade too young, turning 18 in June of 1945. (He had tried to enlist in the Marines at 17, but his parents refused to sign the necessary papers.) Thus, when he was drafted, it was VJ day by the time he was out of basic training. He spent a fairly easy 18 months in the Army Air Corps before being mustered out. He then got the GI Bill and became the first of his family to graduate from college.

He later said it was a turning point in his life. He'd grown up in a pretty insular working-class environment in the Bronx. He dropped out of high school at 16 to help support his family. But he was assigned to a medical unit in the army and was suddenly surrounded by doctors and nurses, who saw he was smart and told him, when this is over, you go to college. (Of course, he had to finish high school first.) He became an electrical engineer and led his two brothers into the middle class, as well.

He understood full well how lucky he was. If he'd succeeded in joining the Marines, he might have been one of those guys landing on Iwo Jima.