From 'Eternity' to Here - Americans didn't always appreciate our soldiers the way we do today.

"The first note was clear and absolutely certain. There was no question or stumbling in this bugle. It swept across the quadrangle positively, held a fraction of a second longer than most buglers hold it. Held long like the length of time, stretching away from weary day to weary day. . . . This is the song of the men who have no place, played by a man who has never had a place, and can therefore play it. Listen to it. You know this song, remember?"

For novel readers who care about war and warriors who cared about novels, a great memory is the picture, seen in tens of millions of imaginations, and finally in a film, of Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt playing taps at Schofield Barracks, 25 miles from Honolulu, on the eve of Pearl Harbor, in James Jones's great novel, "From Here to Eternity." It was published 55 years ago and sold three million copies, and it is on my mind today because I'm thinking about the taps we will all hear this Monday, Memorial Day, at ceremonies and in cemeteries throughout the country. When I hear it I'm going to think of what my father always said when he heard taps. "Play it, Prewitt," he'd say. Because that character was like men he'd known in the American army of World War II.

It is good that we have this day to remember heroes, to think again of those who over the centuries put themselves in harm's way for our country, for us. It is good that we remember, and take inspiration from, tales of valor, of flags carried uphill, like the one carried by the intrepid young First Lt. Arthur MacArthur, during a Union charge in the...

"They were not, the men of the peacetime, Depression-era Army, especially respected by the public they served."

"When James Jones himself joined the Army, in 1937, a young man whose options seemed limited, he wrote back home, "This place is hell. They herd you around like cattle; they order you around like dogs; they work you like horses; and they feed you like hogs." In the 1953 film of the novel, directed by Fred Zinnemann, the first shot after the credits is of men marching in brisk formation. But all you can see are their boots on a dusty field, perfect but anonymous."

A glimpse into Ronald Reagan's thoughts on the military,is that he started a military correspondence course in 1935, and enlisted in an Army combat arms Calvary Reserve unit in 1937.

They came from little, had no money, had received indifferent public educations, and the 1930s Army they joined was neither racially integrated, gender-neutral nor adequately funded. The great divide, the caste system, was between officers and enlisted men. The latter were given training and discipline and were left with a passionate and passionately mixed attitude toward the institution that made them part of something as it chipped away at their individuality, that employed them and enslaved them, that made them men and often treated them like children.

Yo Peggy STFU. It's the MILITARY you ijit, not the Kiwanis Club.

Better yet, stick to writing about something you know - like cooking or what shoes to wear.

My father was an only child of a small time dirt poor farmer. He joined the Marines the day he graduated High School and got one other classmate to join him in his adventure. He fought in the Korean War, or conflict, depending on what you were doing during that time. He was a Machine Gunner and buried plenty of those North Koreans and sent them to hell. He also lost a few great friends along the way.

Once a Man becomes a Marine, he always remains a Marine for life. No matter the challenge, they have a can do attitude that few people learn like the Marine's do.He met many good men in the Marines, some went on to become famous professional football players, Most were successful at whatever choices they made in life. My father went on to become a highly successful salesman. He was then promoted to Sales Manager of the Southeastern United States and all of South America.

I on the other hand never was in the U.S. Military, but I spent 25+ years of my life as a DOD, Department of Defense contractor as a Field Service Engineer in Flight Simulation, supporting the training of many a Pilot's skills, that makes the American Forces Aviation Command Group the rulers of the skies where they do battle, or just save lives during times of Natural Catastrophe's. I must say that, even though I wasn't in the military, I still made the sacrifices of living around a Military base out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do. Even though I had my wife and family for entertainment, I didn't have the support or the comoraderie that the Military men and women shared in some of the bases best known as Camp Swampy, Hells Half Acre, and some that I just cannot mention here.

I did get to travel the world and go places to support our Great American Denfendors of everyones Freedoms, even those who really didn't deserve many of these Brave Soldiers Gratitude.

I learned more and more over the years that the great American Military Men and Women of our Great Country deserve much more respect than most of us honor upon them for their sacrifices, such as giving their lives so we can better enjoy our lives and loves.

Please be sure to be Thankful on this Memorial Day Celebration. Some Give ALL just so we can live it all, with many freedoms many others never see. Be sure to thank all our GREAT men and women in the Military and honor those who made the greatest sacrifice of all.

Jack Edwards, the name of a GREAT MARINE, who gave his life, so my father and many other Marines could survive, by covering a grenade thrown in their foxhole. My father gave me this mans name as my first and middle name to forever remember and honor such a true American Hero. I treasure his memory every day when someone calls my name.

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