I attended the funeral last fall of a hometown Marine killed in Iraq. My description and tribute is here.

Also, a list of suggested movies for Memorial Day Weekend is here.

you dishonor those who fought and died in the Mexican
war and expeditions. Over 11,000 US dead. They attacked the US and the nativists fought back.

I'll be posting several items this weekend. The first is called Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

I'll have a post about Amanda Pinson, and an interview with Navy Cross winner Brian Chontosh.

As a retired Soldier, thank you for your support. My tribute to a passing generation is at the link.

"...Word to the Nation: Guard zealously your right to serve in the Armed Forces, for without them, there will be no other rights to guard. - President John F. Kennedy, 1962

"...I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

President Abraham Lincoln"

God bless all of our veterans this Memorial Day.

Let us not forget those who have died in the service of their country, but who did so in peacetime. It takes more than the fingers on one hand for me to count the number of people I went to college with who died flying military airplanes -- and not a one of them ever saw combat.

Click here to take another, deeper look at the history behind the Star-Spangled Banner.

I have a brief discussion of Decoration Day and Confederate Memorial day up.

Here is a shout out to my cousin Jack , a WWII veteran who was at Normandy. Jack was a Jewish Austrian National who just made it out if Austria in the nick of time (another story). He enlisted in the US army and was wounded. While he was convalescing he wrote a letter to Stars and Stripes about how he was a man without a country. He was not an American citizen and of course Austria wanted nothing to do with him. Apparently some bigwigs read the letter and the next week a colonel came to visit Jack and the made him a citizen on the spot.

I would also like to give a shout out my late Uncle Al. I'm not quite sure if this story is germane to the topic but I thought I would share. Uncle Al was a partisan fighter in Chezkoslavakia during WWII. During the war he hooked up with the Russian army and by the end of the war he was a Colonel and was put in charge of some town in Chezkoslavakia (I can't recall right now which it was). During this time his younger brother and sister, who had survived Auschwitz, were trying to get their paper work in order to get Visas to come to America. They were facing a lot of bureaucratic hassles when my Uncle Al came to help. He commandeered a Russian tank and persuaded the bureaucrats to help get the necessary paperwork.

Those are my family stories. I would like to thank all the Veterans out there reading this for keeping me and my family free. Thank you and have a happy healthy Memorial Day.

Great post. I'll be checking out the links. I've written a post entitled "Memorial Day Devotions," and the link is here

Here's a tribute poem I wrote last year. I'm no poet, but it's heartfelt, and it does rhyme (albeit with a rather elementary structure).

God Bless our Military, and remember the Fallen who've given us the gift of freedom.

A Warriors Flag

Men of virtue, always true
Resonate in a field of blue
With courage reaching far and wide
Alights from the sky in stars of white
But we know why the stripes are red
As we shed a tear and honor our dead

Made with care and thread and needle
It snaps out to show our people
Echoes of heroes, past and present
There, our proudly waving pennant
Our founding fathers, the men in blue
A greatest generation- born anew

As enemies rise to threaten our peace
We look for someone to face the beast
One band is always sure and steady
They step forward, arms at the ready
Our warriors shall heed the call-
To duty, to honor, to serve for all

And when that flag is folded tight
We know a man has left the fight
That small triangle, a nations sorrow
Has moved us toward a brighter tomorrow
We cannot know the families pain
The sacrifice, the pride, the rain
Of tears, but let us say out loud
Of our fallen, we are most proud.

I have a tribute to my late father-in-law, a Naval Aviator in World War ll.

I put up a tribute today:
http://finedrywit.blogspot.com/
the lyrics to the Statler Brothers song,
"More Than A Name On A Wall".

Hi, Lorie! Still love reading your posts no matter where you are ;) Thanks for the touching tribute to our fallen. Those of us who served (and those who didn't) REALLY appreciate it.

I have posted on Memorial Day regarding both my Father and the USCG.....

Duke DeLand, BC-MSN, USCGA Ret.

Should leave post address, I suppose!
Sorry

Duke DeLand

http://pekinprattles.blogspot.com/2006/05/memorial-day-2006-day-to-remember.html

I posted an e-mail from the father of a soldier who died in Iraq last year.

Mine is @ The Name in the Stone @ AMERICAN DIGEST

Lorie,
Back in 2004, I posted a piece about the National Cemetary at Quantico. Here's the link:

http://rocketjones.mu.nu/archives/008303.html

Thanks.

Project Hero: Lest we forget

http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?Entry=3958

I have two posts to Memorial Day, one for Maj. John McCrae ("In Flanders Fields") and one to Alan Seeger ("A Rendezvous with Death").

Also tells of the red poppy that became a symbol of Memorial Day.

http://saberpoint.blogspot.com

Building on your post, we have a link and excerpt list from around the Net In Memory of our Fallen Heroes - Memorial Day Tributes We invite everyone to stop by. Fly your flags and find a Veteran and say "thank you!" Everyone have a great weekend.

The Final Inspection

The soldier stood and faced his God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"

The soldier squared his shoulders and
Said, "No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here,
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."

There was a silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God,

"Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well,
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."

I have a story up about Maj. John McCrae and how and why he wrote the famous poem, "In Flanders Fields."

I have a second story up called "Freedom Isn't Free: Memorial Day Meditations" that tells the story of Harvard Grad Alan Seeger and his famous poem, "Rendezvous with Death."

To all who have served, living and decesed, just want to say a few simple words : Thank - You.

God Bless Our Service People/Veterians.

We went out with our Cub Scout Pack to place flags on Vets graves. Here are some photos of our outing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16734074@N00/sets/72157594148482164/

Honoring the Fallen.

Memorial Day 2006

Today is Memorial Day 2006. So what does Memorial Day mean. I should look back and gain some perspective.
The American experiment in self government is 230 years old this year and during the course of our history we have fought 12 wars. That is an average of one war for each generation of Americans.
That is 3, 390 American Military Dead for each year the United States has existed. So during my life an average of 145,000 American Military Personnel have paid the ultimate price for the freedoms I enjoy. That is a very humbling thought that one hundred and forty five thousand Americans have died for me.
That means that the photograph I saw this morning on the internet of that young GI in France, with his life blood pooling under his head in Paris, as a result of German sniper fire, was for me. He was there so I could be here today, sitting here at my computer, sipping my coffee, typing in the relative safety of rural New York State, reflecting on his sacrifice.
But of course, who ever he was, he did not know me, and he was there to stop the Nazi scourge that was grinding through Europe, destroying freedom and innocent lives. He knew that it had to be stopped there or it would come to America and grind through his home town and take the lives and freedoms of those he held dear. So he made the ultimate sacrifice on the alter of freedom. And I salute him.
That means that those GI's crying over fallen dead in Korea were for me. Their tears of grief were for me. Their dead companions were my dead. My fellow Americans, my honored fallen. My brothers.
That means those of Vietnam, those fine young men and women in a misbegotten, misunderstood, hated, and undermined war, tortured, at home and abroad, denied the honor that was their due, died for me, and although I was too young to understand the tumult of the 1960's and 1970's, I now know, and I salute you for your sacrifices on the field of battle and for the homeland where you endured shame and spitting that should never have been. I weep when I think that those things were done to you - you-soldiers, sailors, marines, whose very blood bought the right of those who were insulting you. And you bore it all with quiet dignified military bearing. I lower my head in acknowledgment that such things happened, and vow that they will not be forgotten, nor repeated.
And now, we are engaged in a shadow war that consumes us, with an enemy that hates us for our freedoms, our religion, and what we stand for. And standing against them, are the young men and women of this generation, bleeding in the sand, in the streets, in burning trucks, killed by bombs, to bring liberty and freedom to those people oppressed by despots and depraved religious leaders who advocated destruction in the name of their god.
I remember these things. I think of those 779.807 dead American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Guardsmen. The Vanguards, the Minutemen of America. Those who have stand in the gap to protect, honor, and defend with their very life blood the homeland of their loved ones.
I know that there are going to be more laid on the alter of freedom, and it saddens me. Old Glory flies in your honor, you who have died you who now serve, and you who will serve.

I breathe the sweet perfume of liberty because your lungs have sucked in the dust and smoke of battle. My pulse is slow and peaceful, because yours has raced with the heat of battle and bled out on the field of honor to bind the bricks of the American Republic together. My eyes are open to see the fruit of your labors, while yours are forever closed in death.

Today I will enjoy the company of family and friends, food and drink, bought and paid for with your sacrifice, and while this is "holiday" for most Americans, to me it is a day of great sadness and remembrance, and thanksgiving, and so with grateful heart, I salute you, each and every one of you for your sacrifice on my behalf.

May you rest in peace.

Jonathan W. Biggar

If not for the US military, my parents, already refugees fdrom Germany, would have been killed if Hitler ever invaded Britain. They would have never met. They would never have emigrated to the US to start a family and start a business. In turn my siblings and I would not have been able to do the same. God bless America. God bless all Americans in uniform. May they achieve their objectives and return safely home, whole in body, mind and spirit.

chsw

I would be quite honored if you'd add this link to your list.

For Love of Country

I stand in awe of those who gave all. May our lives prove worthy of their sacrafice.

Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX

USAF, 1 hitch. '75-'79

We have fought wars to create and maintain the United States of America. Our War for Independence..the War of 1812..The Civil War against the traitors of the CSA and World War II. At no other time has the direct security of the United States been at risk.
Our "very life blood" is not at stake in Iraq. The blood that is at stake is that of our troops and the "collateral damage" of Iraqi woman and children.
Iraq is not a noble cause. A noble cause is not created or maintained on lies, half truths, and belated truths.
What every Viet Nam and Korean era vet lives with is being a part of something so terrible for a lie.
We cling to the lie because the truth requires too much effort and in the case of those directly involved too much pain.
When I went to the White Marble Tombstones of Ft. Logan today I cried. Not just for names I knew there and visited. I cried because until we quit going to war for lies and hubris so many of them will have died in vain. Until we accept the LIE of Iraq and say never again for a lie..the 2,465 as of today..will have died in vain..we can only honor them by having no more ..Bring'em all home NOW!

I collected three moving stories of those who gave their lives for our country here: http://agenttimonline.com/?p=420. It's such an inspiration, especially to young men and women who just don't know what "cool" really is.

I have a Memorial Day essay up about Sacrifice at http://www.fringeblog.com/archives/2006/05/29/to_the_fallen

I suppose it's a bit late in the day, but I did write my own piece on the day:

http://forgottenprophets.blogspot.com/2006/05/remembering.html

Just sharing.

Best,

j