"Will They Even Remember My Name??"---MEMORIAL DAY 2006--Thread#1

5/25/06 | redrock

[redrock]

I had done everything I could to save his life.

We had gotten into a fire-fight with some N.V.A. unit somewhere near the border with Laos. (hell...let's be real...we were caught by surprise). Co.'s A and C, along with some attached South Vietnamese troops, had been ambushed along a border trail that we patrolled...and we were getting the stuffing knocked out of us. I had 22 patients in the first 1/2 hour...and they seemed to be coming in regularly. ( I served as a Medic). Most were minor wounds...but then they brought in Ricky.

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I first met Ricky when we both arrived 'in country' about the same time. Both of us were from the Los Angeles area..and both of us surfed...so it was kinda natural that we became friends. We would spend hours talking to each other about which beach had the best waves...and the best looking girls. He always swore that Newport had the best of both...while I naturally thought the waves, and girls, were better around Santa Monica. We would talk about music (we both agreed that Johnny Cash was one of the best)...and about playing guitar. Both of us tho....wanted nothing more than to get out of Vietnam alive....and head to Australia because we both agreed that the BEST was there.

Like me, Ricky was a reluctant soldier. Neither of us were very good at drill....(hated it...waste of time) and both of us felt a natural reluctance to blindly obey orders. But we did our jobs as best we could.

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A mortar round had taken off the lower part of his right leg...just above the knee. He also had taken two rounds in the shoulder. Blood was shooting out of his torn leg...and he was in immense pain. I got some morphine into him....and then tried to stem the flow of blood. His femoral artery had been torn and had retracted into his thigh. There was nothing I could do but reach into his thigh and try and find the artery before he bled out. Working in his thigh was like working with hamburger...it was so shredded. And each time I moved my hand...it would increase the apprehension even more...and that would increase the pain. (note to those who don't know...pain medication works best when you are calm....and doesn't work very well when you are stressed.) The other Medic, Stan, was working on the shoulder wounds at the same time.

I finally found the artery..and clamped it off..and I tried to take a few moments to assess his entire situation.

He was failing.

He was dying.....and I couldn't see why.

Stan had done a awesome job getting the wounds in his shoulder to stop bleeding and had started plasma. I knew that he has lost a lot of blood....but he should be rebounding on the vital signs. But his blood pressure kept dropping.

There comes a time when you KNOW that you're going to die...and Ricky had arrived at that time.

He looked at me and tried to smile...but couldn't.

"Guess you're gonna have to surf for me...ok???"

I tried to tell him that he would be ok...but he knew.

He said that to let his mom know that he did ok...and to let her know that he would see her later.

And then he said..."Funny...No one will even remember my name."...and then he quietly cried out for "Momma"...and passed on to the next world in my arms.

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We later found out that the reason he died is that one of the rounds that he had taken in his shoulder has broken off some bone...and that bone had cut the arteries near his heart. He bled to death internally. There was nothing Stan or myself could have done. But it has never stopped the guilt in either of us.

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After the War...I took some of my pictures of Ricky that I had taken...to his parents in Southern California. We became friends...and to this day I talk to his brother and sisters at least once a year. His parents passed away in 1997 in a car crash.

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In a few days it will be MEMORIAL DAY. A day where the people of the United States pledge to remember those who gave their all. A day that had been set aside to remember all the sacrifice....and all the pain...and all the death that has kept this Nation safe.

It is NOT about a three day weekend.

It is NOT about picnic's and barbecue's.

It IS about this Nation keeping it's word.

It IS about remembering the 'Ricky's' in our past who gave up their future so everyone could be Free.

I guess the question is...can YOU give up one day for them????

[Gucho]

Thanks for the ping and a moving thread.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Great stuff, redrock. Good to see ya!

Happy early Memorial Day.

[exit82]

Redrock, thanks again for making us remember.

I saw a bumper sticker tonight--it said" This is the land of the free, because of the brave".

That is why no one who served should have their name forgotten.

A friend of mine lives in a small town. He found a small graveyard off a beaten path that has actually seen recent burials. He found ten veterans buried there, identified by their government footmarkers. He went out and got flags and put a flag at each of their stones and cleaned them off.

Those ten names will not be forgotten--not this year.


Today another friend was at a store and a DHL driver came in. They got to talking and he mentioned that he was a Vietnam Vet. My friend thanked him for his service, and the vet replied that he remembered being spit on when he returned to the US. He mentioned how it hurt that the Gulf War I vets got their parades--he and his comrades in arms got nothing. My friend told him that he did a noble thing, and that the war was not lost in the field but rather in the political arena at home. And that the opponents of the Vietnam War never took responsibility for the 3 million South Vietnamese and Cambodians that were slaughtered by the wonderful Communists after we abandoned the South Vietnamese to fight alone.

My friend reiterated that"You did a right and noble thing" and the vet's eyes misted over. He could say no more, but smiled a smile that said it all--someone told him his sacrifice was worth it.

He had waited over thirty years to hear that.


So, redrock, there are those who care and those who remember.

You too did a right and noble thing, and let me once again thank you for your service to our country. I'm free because of your sacrifice, and I am most grateful.

[BIGLOOK]

Well written and well delivered message, Redrock.

Remember.

[AnAmericanMother]

Not forgotten.

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

[redrock]

I've ofter wondered why he would think that...but then when I remember the 'times' we lived in...with so many speaking out against the Vietnam War..and calling us 'baby-killers' and worse..(John Kerry is a total pig)..I can see why he thought that.

Guess that's why I get so angry at people like Murtha.

redrock

[Just A Nobody]

Thank you for your service and welcome home.

Thank you for such a poignant reminder of Ricky and so many others that won't be home again.

I am planning to join Rolling Thunder in DC to honor our fallen heroes. Never Forget!

[nunya bidness]

Thanks Mike.

I remember. I'll never forget.

Thanks vets.

[Just A Nobody]

"Will They Even Remember My Name??"---MEMORIAL DAY 2006

NEVER FORGET ~Ping~

[freema]

I am just a name
On a piece of paper
Next to my stiff unsmiling face in Marine blues.

I am just a number
Now one of many,
On a piece of paper.

No doubt you grimaced
And offered up a prayer
As the numbers grow and grow.

I once was a person
Warm, loving, and loved
Who chose the Hard Path
Who walked with “bearing”
Who dreamed of my life ahead
And laughed at my life behind.

Think of me as you enjoy the day
And your freedom blessed
Me and my brothers and sisters.

Now I am not just a name
On a piece of paper
My name is now enshrined in stone

For you.


John Dyer, Father
LCpl Chris Dyer
USMC
KIA Iraq

[freema]

God bless you, Redrock.

[SandRat]

Will be attending at least two service at cemetery sites this weekend in my uniform (yes the one I retired in still fits well) one at a State Veteran's cemetery and one at the post military cemetery to remember and honor the fallen going back to 1897 here.

[ExpatGator]

As an old Navy man and an old broken-down surfer I thank you, Ricky and the millions of others who have sacrificed their family time, years, youth and in many cases their lives.

Ricky is in a big fat barrel at an uncrowded point-break, hooting at his buddies as they paddle back to the line-up.

[usmcobra]

Not everyone we remember this day died in combat, died in a war on some forgotten shore, some died in peace waiting for what they hoped would never come again.

I'd like to remember one such Marine, a Captain, who delighted in making me laugh when I wasn't supposed to even smile.

I was assigned to the wardroom of the USS Guadalcanal for mess duty, to serve the officers from breakfast to dinner, in a white jacket and my duty trousers. The XO of the ship had laid down the law, we weren't even supposed to talk, just bring the food, pour the coffee and clear the tables.

But Capt. Burrows had other plans, every time I cleared his table he would do something to try and make me laugh. One day a Lt. sitting with him, called me over, and pointed to the Capt's plate, and said there was something wrong with the Capt's ham and eggs.

I looked down at his plate and other than a half empty glass of green GI kool aid, there was nothing on his plate.

I should have known better, but I said "Sir, there are no eggs and ham on the Capt's plate". Capt. Burrows unspeaking looked up at me and dropped his jaw to reveal a mouthful of eggs and ham awash in green kool aid. "green eggs and ham" and yes, I got my ass chewed out for laughing so hard I got the hiccups for two days, and no, I never said why I burst into such a continuous fit of laughter.

He later flew into a cloud only to find a mountain inside of it, outside of Ashville, North Carolina in 1977. He survived the crash with two broken legs and a broken arm and attempted to crawl away from the flames and the wreckage, and nearly made it when he passed out and only then did the flames burn away his lower half of his body.

I guarded the wreckage for a day, while news crews tried to get pictures of the crew.

He was a great Marine Officer, and I will always remember him not in death but with a mouthfull of Green eggs and ham.

[Mrs.Liberty]

ping

[swmobuffalo]

Thank you for your service. I'll be at work on Memorial Day but I will never ever forget the men and women who died for this country.




In loving memory Jimmie L. Hatfield 5/16/20-8/9/2003
WWII ETO

[Just A Nobody]

Thank you freema!

[jellybean]

We walked among the crosses
Where our fallen soldiers lay.
And listened to the bugle
As taps began to play.

The Chaplin led a prayer
We stood with heads bowed low.
And I thought of fallen comrades
I had known so long ago.

They came from every city
Across this fertile land.
That we might live in freedom.
They lie here 'neath the sand.

I felt a little guilty
My sacrifice was small.
I only lost a little time
But these men lost their all.

Now the services are over
For this Memorial Day.
To the names upon these crosses
I just want to say,

Thanks for what you've given
No one could ask for more.
May you rest with God in heaven
From now through evermore

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

You ARE a writer.... and this letter deserves to be sent as a Voice of the People article or editorial page submission to every newspaper in this country. Seriously.

You might want to start here.