Posted on 05/30/2016 7:18:49 AM PDT by irish guard
This is a totally personal thread meant to honor those who served. If there's already something like this out there, please have Jim Rob delete it.
My dad, gone since last Febr. WWII, Purple Heart, Silver Star. The Big Red One.
My Dad, LCDR, USNR (ret). Commanded an LCT on Utah Beach and was XO on an LST on the way to the Pacific when the war ended. Yet another saved by the Bomb.
This year I give a special shout out to those involved in the Japan and Vietnam wars because I despise Obambi’s in your face B.S. photo ops this year.
Grandfather served in navy in the Phillipines
My father who served in the Pacific in WWII. My mother’s first husband who was killed by a sniper in Germany two weeks before the end of the war and my uncle who served in the navy in the Pacific and had to be invalided out due to PTSD. All brave men and I miss the two men I knew and pray for the one fine gentleman who I never met.
My mom. She was Stateside raising 4 kids while my dad did two tours in Vietnam, a year in Okinawa, and countless deployments as a Marine Corps aviator.
Memorial day is to remember those who died in service and loved ones passed.
All of these men have passed but none did so while serving. We were very lucky.
James McVay, and old friend, now gone of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, a Marine Pilot from Guadacanal to Pelilu. He stayed with it until last year.
My Uncle who fought all the way up New Guinea and then the invasion of the Philippines
My two Uncles, one a USAF Forward Observer and one a Marine Gunny, who fought their way out of Chosin.
My Uncles on a Destroyer, in the Air Corps and one who served the duration on a submarine in the Pacific and made it home.
My Dad who was a WWII and Korea Navy pilot.
George Sudekamp, the Uncle I never meet.
Taken prisoner April 9, 1942 Bataan Philippines.
Died August, 1944
My Father, and Uncles/Great Uncles on both side of the family. All served during times of conflict and most saw real action - my Great Uncle on my Mom’s side was on a ship that got kamikaze’d - the rest were in various parts of Europe and Africa.
My ancestor who is said to have been a drummer boy in the Revolutionary War, in the Carolinas.
A gggrandfather and a great-grandfather, one an immigrant from Ireland on my mother’s side, and one from Arkansas on my father’s side, who both fought for the Union in the Civil War. The latter was one of four brothers, two of each fought on opposite sides.
My father, who was a radio mechanic on Guam in WWII, worked on the planes that carpet-bombed Japan under LeMay. Twenty years later, he joined the enemies he had learned to hate, working together in Japan to protect America against the enemy of communism. Until 9/11, five years after his passing, I never understood what it took for him to join his former enemies.
None of them died in battle. They, and all others on this thread, deserve honor from Americans today and every day.
From official US Army records, National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63132-5100
Enlisted Oct 4, 1917. Boot Camp Fort Lee, VA
Promoted to Corporal
Battle of the Meuse-Argonne, wounded by German Machine Gun fire, Sept 28, 1918. Perforating left leg middle 1/3 - CCF (compound comminuted fracture?) left fibula and injury to post-tibial artery - Oct 16, 1918 operation post tibial artery litigated
Gory details of treatments at field hospitals in France and US over the next year and a half omitted.
Three subsequent operations, last one June 18, 1919 at USA General Hospital No. 24 (I think that was Pittsburgh, PA)
Limitation of both dorsal and plantar flexion. Incapacitates.
(My Dad walked with a limp the rest of his life.)
Final discharge: December 19, 1919. Discharge bonus $60.00!!! - He didn't spend it all in one place, I'm sure.
Comin' up on 100th Anniversary of his wounding, Sept 28, 1918 - little over a year and 3 months from now.
God bless my Dad. God bless all the soldiers!
Next, my great grandfather George Washington Cummings, who was drafted and served as Corporal in a Machine Gun Battalion in WWI in the 5th Division (Red Diamond), seeing action in the Meuse-Argonne and St. Mihiel offensives.
A gunner in one of the other companies in this battalion is thought to have been responsible for shooting down the Red Baron with ground fire.
Honorable mention goes to my father, who served 2 years after having been drafted between the Korea and Viet Nam "police actions", and who was fortunate enough not to see any action. But he did his duty.
Happy Memorial Day, everybody!
Seven of my childhood friends are on the wall, two of them died from injuries well after the war was over.
My very best friend Commander Robert Brown, USNA ‘68 (A classmate of Ollie North), who served two tours on Swift Boats, was awarded the Purple Heart for a real injury and died of cancer in 2012 caused by agent orange.
1st Lt Martin Prast, who was wounded in 1970, came home a paraplegic, founded his own company, became Supervisor of my hometown and succumbed to his injuries in 1998.
My many greats ago grand was an aid du camp in Layfette’s bid to assist the revolutionaries here in Colonies.
My father and great-uncle and their valor in WWII
My former husband and his 2 and a half tours in Vietnam, I was 16, my dear and didn’t understand.
Bless you all.
Every man that died so I could post my views on forums such as Free Republic.
United States military casualties of war - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war
“This article lists the United States of America’s military dead, wounded, and missing person totals for wars and major deployments.”
Thanks for coming up with this thread:
My dad who was awarded a Bronze Star in Korea, he walked with a limp as a result.
My father in law who received a Silver Star at Remagen in WWII.
A grandfather who was a Medic in France in WWI.
A great,great great grandfather who served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Lastly, Bill Sommerhof, a contemporary from TBS who was killed in the Beruit bombing.
I pray that God blessed them with his love.
Bless you all and your friends and relatives. No need for politics today, just to remember those who died for us. I heard today that the average age of a soldier who dies in combat is 21. Just think of all the things, they and their families missed because for those early deaths.
My Dad.
Korean War Veteran.
“Rock of the Marne”, Pop.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.