Posted on 05/31/2010 7:03:47 PM PDT by West Texas Chuck
Myself and my woman and a friend went down to Fair Park here in Dallas today. They had a memorial display to celebrate fallen heroes.
"The Moving Wall," the portable Viet Nam wall display. I don't know any of the people who's names are up there, as far as I know. I graduated HS in 1975 and shortly before that had registered with the Selective Service, so I'm a few years shy of duty in SE Asia. I looked on their website and found a guy named Oscar P. Austin, seemed like a pretty good name for a Texan. He was born in Nacogdoches, a little town down in the Piney Woods. CMH recipient for throwing himself in front of machine gun fire to save a fellow Marine who had already been wounded. Panel 32W, line 88. I had a tear in my eye for him, never knew him, but I cannot thank him enough for his bravery.
"War On Terror" dogtags display. I did find the names of two people familiar to my household, one a coworker of my woman and another who was my neighbor's son-in-law. I had met that guy a few times, he died in a vehicle accident in Iraq. RIP and Godspeed.
Names of people who died on 9-11-01. We looked for a former coworker of Susan's but didn't find the name, I'm sure she is up there somewhere.
It was never my honor to serve but it was my honor to visit the display today.
If they could, they would all thank you for remembering. You did what all real Americans did today.
Yes.....God bless them all, Chuck, and no doubt that you would have served if born just a few years earlier. God bless you and yours, too.
If they could, they would all thank you for remembering. You did what all real Americans did today.
I went down to the cemetery today, and at the one where some of our family is at (also some veterans, too), there were probably over a thousand US flags placed all over the cemetery (and I'm talking about the big ones on flag poles, placed all over the cemetery), and there were flowers on just about every grave around and it was packed with people. They've got a military section there, too (it's Floral Haven, between Tulsa and Broken Arrow) and it's a fairly large one.
I passed by other cemeteries and I didn't see another one that was so decorated up like this one today, and having so many people there, today. It was amazing.
A few years back, I went to the National Cemetery on Memorial Day, in Dallas, with my dad, just before he died (a few months later). That had a lot of people there, too, on Memorial Day.
We found and decorated the grave of my Great-Great Grandfather, a Civil War veteran, this weekend. It was very moving to see so many flags scattered throughout the cemetery. So many different wars and veterans that either died in battle or lived long, productive lives after their service.
My ancestor fought for virtually the entire war in the Army of the Potomac. As I looked around, I remembered Lincoln’s famous words: “Thank God for Michigan!”
We started to go there today but their website said all the roads in are under construction, plus Fair Park is a fairly easy strike from where I'm at in Garland.
Next year, I've been to a bunch of the cemeteries here with military graves, but haven't been to that one yet. Next year.
That's cool. I had family on both sides of the War for Southern Independence, but I will always be a Reb and a Texan.
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