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Please watch and share this highly inspirational video and the amazing birth of a much-needed charity to our beloved WWII veterans. The goal is to have 50,000 views by the end of the day (at 28,000 time of this posting).

Today is Memorial Day, once also known as Decoration Day, hallowed to honor our military dead. Started to honor our Civil War dead, it has been expanded to honor all of our military dead of the United States from the Revolutionary War on (1775 to present). Yet in doing so, we still leave some out unless we become more expansive yet and include the 10,000+[1] of an even earlier conflict. I request those who read this, cast their minds back to a war that too many have forgotten but that forged an unbreakable mold upon our continent, "The French and...

On Veterans’ Day, which had its birth in the Armistice Day that celebrated the end of World War I, we thank our servicemen, both current and retired, for their service. We phone our parents, siblings, children… our neighbors or friends… we see someone in uniform at the store, the mall, the airport or at church, and we say, “Thank you for your service.” Of course, we can do that every day, but Veterans’ Day is a special day when we try harder to remember to. Memorial Day, now celebrated on the last Monday in May, is all of the above,...

Like many Americans, Memorial Day never ceases to move me. Rivaled only by Christmas and Easter, it’s the most poignant time of the year for me, maybe because, like Christmas and Easter, it’s about life, death, and remembrance. This Memorial Day, several images stick with me: Recently, I was sitting at the waiting room at the nearby hospital, alternately reading something and checking email on my BlackBerry, consumed by my own little modern, technological world. Over to my left, I heard an elderly gentleman saying to another elderly gentleman, “Yes, I got there in 1943, ready to deploy to Italy….”...

Let us never forget those who gave their life for our freedoms. Remembering the brave men and women who gave their “last full measure of devotion” for our freedoms, requires us to take a moment on this Memorial Day to focus on the individuals behind the numbers and remember they are not just names on a wall. One of those individuals who gave everything he had for us was Marine Captain John J. McKenna IV who was killed on August 16, 2006 during an operation in Fallujah Iraq. The story of John McKenna’s life and death is the story of...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KGPKpIuX3cY

This is the 11th anniversary of this edition of Mullings which was first written for Memorial Day, 2001 - four months before 9/11. Our son, Reed, was a member of the team in charge of President George W. Bush's visit to Arlington Memorial Cemetery on that day.] ---"Because of your selfless acts, we stand in the capitals of those who would do our citizens harm." Col. Michael Ceroli, Ft. Bragg, NC --- We went to Arlington National Cemetery to attend the annual Memorial Day observance. The entrance to Arlington National Cemetery is directly across the Potomac River from the...

Originally titled "Souvenirs" and filmed in 2010-2011 by a Minnesota-based production company, the movie alternates between the fictional stories of U.S. Army Lt. Bud Vogel, an 82nd Airborne Division "All-American" soldier fighting in World War II Holland, and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kyle Vogel, a Minnesota Army National Guard "Red Bull" soldier fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The narrative is driven by a front-porch conversation between grandson and grandfather that takes place on a summer day, after the 13-year-old boy finds a G.I. footlocker full of memorabilia.

The Heart of a WarriorSo far away from home in distant and often desolate lands our young men fight for freedoms with blood stained hands with heavy hearts embrace brothers who die in their arms the reality of war in the action and way of so many harms the call of duty, honor and country ring loudly in their ears willingness to fight and die maturity far beyond their years Shouldering the burden of any moment they too may fall they fly the flag of freedom while standing tall at the wall the depth of purpose as warriors they must...

THINK OF OUR TROOPS THIS MEMORIAL DAY Enjoying your three-day weekend? We hope so. We wish all of our supporters a happy Memorial Day, but we also want to remind everyone who we have to thank for the privilege of observing this holiday, our troops. While back home we have the privilege of getting everyone together for a family cook out or bbq, our troops are still fighting a war in Afghanistan. Our troops don't get to have a barbecue, unless they get really inventive, like this Marine who improvised a very crude grill over some rocks. And the...

ARLINGTON, Va. — Lyle Smith sat in a wheelchair on the grounds of the national cemetery, not far from the Tomb of the Unknowns. "I never imagined there would be so many headstones," he said, looking out over the green rolling hills covered with snow-white markers. Smith was born seven years after the "War to End All Wars" ended; less than 20 years later, he left his family's homestead in Columbus, Wis., as a volunteer to serve his country in another world war. Except for time spent in the European theater, he never ventured far from Wisconsin; he married...

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” Ronald Reagan From Windows Live Writer

Early this morning is when I am blogging this very special blog entry on this Memorial Day 2012. On this Memorial Day 2012, had the opportunity to both watch and listen to country and western singer Billy Ray Cyrus‘s song about this day, “Some Gave All.” This song sums up in full why the United States of America on this and each and every Memorial Day as one year passes to another it gives this holiday its full meaning. The man in the song, Sandy Kane, who became the teacher and teaches the lesson of not only being thankful for...

Author's note: This tribute was written by my good friend Steve Sheldon.This Memorial Day, while you are enjoying your class reunion, family get-together, outdoor barbeque, or an extra day off work, please remember all the Bernie Deghands who died serving this great country so that you can enjoy the freedoms that have been bought and paid for with real lives of real people. When the Stars and Stripes bows at half staff and flutters proudly in the breeze, think about their pain, their broken bodies, their final moments, see their faces, reflect on their sacrifice, pray for their families,...

The life of a true American hero - a husband, a father, a man of unyielding faith and courage. Fearless and selfless, with the ability to do anything, Adam Brown, above anything, exemplified the American spirit. PART 1. See on screen link for PART 2.

Chris Hayes: I'm 'Uncomfortable' Calling Fallen Military 'Heroes' By Mark Finkelstein | May 27, 2012 | 09:21 ........................... In fairness, Hayes and the other panel members distinguished between their respect for the valor of the individual military members who had given their lives with the worthiness of the various causes in which they fought. Even so, what does it say about the liberal chattering class, which Hayes epitomizes, that it chokes on calling America's fallen what they rightly and surely are: heroes? Watch the hesitant Hayes in what almost seems a parody of the conflicted intellectual. CHRIS HAYES: Thinking today...

Friends and Fellow Citizens: Tarry here for a moment. My words shall be few and simple. The solemn rites of this hour and place call for no lengthened speech. There is in the very air of this resting ground of the unknown dead a silent, subtle, and an all-pervading eloquence, far more touching, impressive, and thrilling, than living lips have ever uttered. Into the measureless depths of every loyal soul it is now whispering lessons of all that is precious, priceless, holiest, and most enduring in human existence. Dark and sad will be the hour to this nation when it...

Barack Obama has taken his reelection campaign to new depths with a television ad targeting veterans released last week timed for Memorial Day.Now never mind that Memorial Day is to honor those killed in service while Veterans Day is set aside to honor living service members. We know that Obama has trouble differentiating the two. ("On this Memorial Day as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes--and I see many of them in the audience here today..." Obama, May 26, 2008)The Associated Press quots Obama in the ad:"It's because of what they've done that we've been able to...

REMEMBERING THOSE WHO GAVE EVERYTHING SO THAT WE MAY REMAIN FREE

    The FReeper Canteen Observes ------------------------Memorial Day 2012 ------------------------     HistoryMemorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet (see below) carried the dedication "To...