Posted on 05/25/2009 8:18:33 AM PDT by STARWISE
Heather Golczynski and her 8-year-old son Christian hold tightly to the memory of Marine Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski.
Choking back tears, Christian Golczynski accepted the flag from his father's casket.
Photographer Aaron Thompson described this moment as "the most emotionally moving event I may have ever witnessed and may ever witness in my life."
*snip*
Just days before he left for his second tour, Marc sent a letter to his family that would be his epitaph.
"Due to our deep desire to finish the job we started, we fight and sometimes die so that our families don't have to. Stand beside us because we would do it for you. Because it is our unity that's enabled us to prosper the nation," Marc wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
President George Bush met with Christian Golczynski, son of fallen Marine Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski, in the Oval Office, praising the dedication of his father. A fund raising event will be held at Bonefish Grill in Murfreesboro to benefit the boy's Trust Fund on June 30.
Though nothing can replace his father, people of middle Tennessee are doing something to provide for Christian Golczynski, son of the late Marine Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski, who lost his life in combat with Iraqi insurgents on March 27.
He was laid to rest in Bedford County with a hero's funeral in Wheel.
According to Mike Goodloe of Murfreesboro, a friend of the fallen Marine, Bonefish Grill in Murfreesboro will host a walk and luncheon on June 30 to honor Golczynski and his sacrifice, and to raise funds for his son.
"The proceeds, 100 percent of the restaurant tickets and other money raised, will go to Christian Golczynski's trust fund that has been set up for his education," said Goodloe.
*snip*
During the Memorial Day weekend, the eight-year-old son of Golczynski met with President Bush in Oval Office, where he was presented with a bracelet bearing his father's name.
Five families who lost members of the armed forces met with the president before traveling with him to Arlington National Cemetery, where Bush placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a traditional Memorial Day event.
~~~~
Slain Marine to be memorialized in bronze - January 31, 2008
LEWISBURG -- A bronze bust is to be cast of the late Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski, whose mother teaches science at Forrest High School, and she's said she believes the bust should be displayed in Lewisburg where he was raised and joined the Marine Corps.
Where the bust might be displayed was considered Tuesday afternoon during a meeting of the Lewisburg Community Development Committee led by Chairman Edmund Roberts, a close family friend and former business associate of Henry Golczynski, the slain Marine's father.
Elaine Huffines, the Marine's mother and a resident of Motlow College Road south of Shelbyville, said Wednesday that she had asked Mayor Bob Phillips if the bust "could be placed somewhere in Lewisburg since it is Marc's hometown. I just wanted it to be in Lewisburg and so does Heather," Marc's widow.
Discussion among members of the Community Development Committee concluded with a unanimous vote on a motion by Donna Roberts, seconded by Pam Russell, that the bronze bust of Golczynski should be placed in a secure location and that Rock Creek Park does not offer the kind of security that's required.
Complaints of vandalism at the park were heard last year at a city council meeting and vandalism was recognized by the community development committee as a threat to any potential statue for the park.
"Heather was also concerned about it being outdoors," Huffines said during a telephone interview.
Heather Golczynski is raising Christian Golczynski, the son she and Marc had. He's in elementary school in Maryland.
Committee discussion Tuesday also recognized that Marshall County has lost two other servicemen during the war on terror: Todd Edward Nunes, who perished in 2004 while on patrol from his base in Iraq, and; David Hierholzer who died in 2006 during a mission in Afghanistan.
Golczynski, 30, was killed as a result of a gunshot wound while on foot patrol in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq on March 27, 2007. He is buried in Wheel Cemetery in Bedford County.
*snip*
Those busts are produced much in the same fashion as the one of Golczynski. Private donations are received through an organization of Marines.
"It's called Operation Never Forget," Huffines said of the organization of Marines.
"They said it would be ready this spring," she said. "Marc's Marines have been the ones who have pushed this. They pitched in money for it. Marc was a Marine reservist in a unit from Nashville that hasn't lost that many guys."
Fewer than half a dozen Marines in Golczynski's unit have been killed, however, Huffines said, "Marc was the only non-commissioned officer in the group who was killed."
The Golczynski family has "had very little to do with Marc's bust being created," Huffines said. "We have been riding the tail of the comet, so to speak.
"I don't know what to tell Marshall County to do," she said. "But we know that Marc's buddies want to have a celebration for Marc."
U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Marcus A. Golczynski, 30, was shot by enemy fire and died Tuesday in Iraq while on his second tour of duty. Golczynski, also known as "Sergeant Ski," was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's Third Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Fourth Marine Division, Nashville.
He had been set to return home by Easter, friends said. In a recent e-mail, the Marine expressed some of his feelings about his service in Iraq.
"We are warriors," he wrote. "And as warriors have before us, we joined this organization and are following orders because we believe what we are doing is right. Many of us volunteered to do this a second time due to our deep desire to finish the job we started. We fight and sometimes die, so our families don't have to."
Heartbreaking...
Beautiful young man.
God be with him & his family.
~~PING!
The good men are dying and the low men are proliferating. Low men like 0bama the demagouge. The non-American demagouge from Kenya
“People forget” there are still soldiers...maddening.......
Thank you. This famous picture symbolizes Memorial Day. No words necessary.
Even blurred by tears you can see his father is this brave young man.
heart breaking moment. brave little young man. I hope he follows his father’s footsteps and makes this nation a safer place.
This picture never fails to move me to tears...thanks for bringing us his story, again, Starwise.
My eyes are leaking.
Alot
Tears.
thank you for this beautiful, moving commemoration. perfect for Memorial Day. may we honor the fallen and their sacrifice with our actions going forward.
I never knew Marc, but friends of mine did, as was a manager at the Ruby Tuesday's here in Tullahoma. I believe we may have been introduced once, but this was a couple of years before he fell in Iraq. Breaks your heart.
Tears.....
Thanks STARWISE, this is a big PING to devolve. As you know, he has posted this photo hundreds of times and it never fails to bring a tear to the eye. He gets many comments on it.
It’s nice to see the other pictures of Christian too!
That is so true. Remember in New Orleans, all those young men who could have been helping the women and children were busy looting. Truth be told, some of the women were looting too.
What is wrong with the wiring of some of these people?
Brian, I had no idea! How this must tug at you every time you see it...
I pray the Christian and his Mom are recovering from their loss.
Today’s generation does not realize nor do they always appreciate the sacrifices made now and in the past so they can remain free and not be attacked in their own villages and cities. God bless our American military, past and present.
We will never forget.
How about resisting the ongoing invasion of the country for which they made the ultimate sacrifice? That's MY Memorial Day resolution.
God bless them and their families, and God help our country.
Thank you ... his father’s courage shines through in him.
Great post.
(It also reminded me to put my flag up this morning.)
That is something!
“The good men are dying and the low men are proliferating. Low men like 0bama the demagouge. The non-American demagouge from Kenya”
I was going to write the same thing. I’d give a thousand Obamas to have one Golczynski back.
“What a powerful photo....hits you really hard. Here is another one that always tugs at my heart.”
Wow. That’s hard to look at.
“What a powerful photo....hits you really hard. Here is another one that always tugs at my heart.”
Wow. That’s hard to look at.
This is a heartfelt thread. And like the best that FR hss to offer, it touches the soul, tugs at the heart, fills the eyes with tears and the mind with a deep gratefulness and appreciation and yeah, love, for our mighty brave and fallen heros. As well as for those who now serve....I am so glad I did not miss this thread!
BTTT
I also loved, with all of my heart, the photo of this little lad with our President Bush. The way President Bush loved our troops always gets to me. Big time!
For Freedom’s Way
For freedom’s way the patriots bled
The crosses mark our honored dead
More clearly than mere words e’er may
That field lays out their final say
No greater love, they gave it all
In answer to man’s highest call
But don’t forget that most returned
To them we owe esteem they earned
And last of all, remember this:
Our LORD betrayed by one mere kiss
For from within, true danger lies
Though carefully as friend disguised
So fight, my friend, from where you stand
For freedom rides on every man
Tom Hoefling
BTTT
gonna be a reckoning one day.
we can’t continue like this forever
It’s coming Bro, be prepared...
Memorial Day ping
Come here. Bring a box of tissues.
This picture makes me weepy.
Bump to the Top....
That little girl crying - I would not snap pictures of things like this. The photographer has no regard for her grief.
And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice. Our first obligation to them and ourselves is plain enough:
The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper."
--Ronald Reagan
.
Thank you for posting.
I recall the sinking feeling I felt when I watched the towers fall. I can vividly recall the horror I felt watching the towers collapse, while people in the streets ran in horror to get out of the path of the falling debris and the consuming dust and smoke.
I can only imagine the horror of all those who where on board the aircraft which were hijacked, and used as missiles on our own people. And I know that every man and woman who joined the Military during and after that fateful day, had to have the very same images, and thoughts seared into their own consciousness, which motivated them to render such personal sacrifice.
Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski is one of us. He saw the need, and refused to turn away. He understood what it was that we had to do, and he walked boldly towards the challenge.
He, as well as thousands of other young men, weren't conscripted. They were just like us. They too were living their lives in a free nation: taking care of their families, minding their own concerns when we were attacked by an enemy that most of us never bothered to consider as a threat.
But he and thousands of others like him knew that day, that our families, and way of life were on the line, and that line had been crossed in a most horrible way.
He didn't have to serve. He didn't have to join the Military, go half way around the world, and subject himself to such danger in a strange place. He could have easily done as so many of our other citizens have done, and said quite calmly, "we need a reasoned response". "We need to dialogue with our enemy, and try to understand what we need to do to convince them that we mean them no harm."
But that is not at all what he and thousands of our other sons and daughters have done. They clearly understood the fate of our nation, and our people. They understood all too well, the fate of our own families and neighbors if they failed to face this threat in such a cowardly manner, and they willingly put their own lives on hold, left their homes in an attempt to hunt down the men and organizations that delivered such a cowardly attack against our own citizens.
They knew full well that they may never come back home, and see the faces of their loved ones again. But still they went.
In the very word of Staff Sgt.Golczynski,"We fight and sometimes die, so our families don't have to", give all the reason these men need to do what they've done. To them, it's as simple as protecting their own families.
But in doing so, they have protected people like you and me: fellow Citizens they have never known. And we live too because of their selflessness, because of their valor, because of their sacrifice. Did they want to die? Did they want to give up comfort and a future with their families? Of course not! But they placed a value on the safety and well being of their own families, and the security of their homeland, and they were willing to pay that price.
There are simply not enough words in all the languages of the world in which I could express my deepest gratitude for them all.
God help this nation to understand that there are things in this life worth fighting and dying for. Blessed be all those who understand this, and follow the example of the millions of other servicemen and women who've headed the call when our nation was under threat.
Staff Sgt.Golczynski is now and will forever be in my opinion, one of America's true Super Heroes! God will indeed bless his family!
......... PING!
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