Posted on 05/27/2006 3:24:51 AM PDT by Matt Bruce
May We NEVER Forget The Reason For Memorial Day... ---------------------------------
SARASOTA, FL. (NS) -
It is once again time for America to remember the reason WHY we celebrate Memorial Day...
From the current War On Terror, to World War's I & II, along with Vietnam, Korea, Grenada and even the Spanish American and Civil War we honor the memory of all of those who have died serving America in our Armed Forces so that we might now all be free and safe...
It is also way past time to remember the needs of our current Veterans and see to it that they are met without playing politics with honorable men and women's lives...
For those of us who have survived serving in the Military during combat or peace, we take the time to stop and remember those brave young men and women who served right along beside us who are no longer with us...
We also all look forward to what their sacrifices have done in helping keep America the greatest Country on the face of the Earth...
A Country where people are willing to risk their lives, sneaking across our border, crossing hundreds of miles of desert just to get into...
Once again the true spirit of America comes shining thru for the World to see. We all come together, united in our resolve to help keep America the home of the brave and land of the free...
That took sacrifices, the sacrifices made by men and women willing to die for their Country so that those of us living today could enjoy our freedoms...
When our Country needed us, there were young men and women who answered the call. To those who haven't served, I say YOU missed the chance of a lifetime to be a part of something great...
When our fellow citizens needed us the most, we were there. The caring, determination, sharing and completion of our mission when we served our Country has been seen by all Americans...
That is what America is all about, those who serve America when we are needed. America remembers, Veterans, remember, Families remember, the World remembers what none of us who have served America have even forgotten...
Let's remember WHY we celebrate Memorial Day because so many have forgotten the REAL reason...
We are not Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives or Liberals on Memorial Day. We are all Americans honoring those who did not return home to be able to celebrate with us...
So we celebrate and honor those who died protecting our great Country, the United States of America...
Please be careful, drive and play safe and here's hoping that have a great Memorial Day wherever you are...
Let's also not forget those who protect and serve us each and every day in our civilian sector. Our EMS, Firefighters and Police who do a very difficult job everyday...
They, just like our Military Men and Women scattered around the World, keep all of 'us' free and safe too...
When you go out this Memorial Day and your path crosses one of those who I've just mentioned, walk up to them and say "THANK YOU"...
Just watch their faces light up and look for the smile, because you've just made 'their' day...
For Now, That's Just 'OUR' Opinion...
Matt Bruce - 2-Time Combat Wounded Vietnam Veteran - Managing Editor & Publisher - News Sarasota.com - "The Captain's AMERICA" Radio Show - Heard Wednesday's From 10 To 11 AM ET - On 1490 WWPR AM Radio Serving - Bradenton, Sarasota & Tampa Bay, FL... God Bless America & All Those Who Protect & Serve Her... -------------- Capt MC Bruce - Retired Fire Captain - Sarasota Co REC Member - "The Captain's AMERICA" Radio Progam...
SARASOTA, FL. (NS) -
It is once again time for America to remember the reason WHY we celebrate Memorial Day...
From the current War On Terror, to World War's I & II, along with Vietnam, Korea, Grenada and even the Spanish American and Civil War we honor the memory of all of those who have died serving America in our Armed Forces so that we might now all be free and safe...
It is also way past time to remember the needs of our current Veterans and see to it that they are met without playing politics with honorable men and women's lives...
For those of us who have survived serving in the Military during combat or peace, we take the time to stop and remember those brave young men and women who served right along beside us who are no longer with us...
We also all look forward to what their sacrifices have done in helping keep America the greatest Country on the face of the Earth...
A Country where people are willing to risk their lives, sneaking across our border, crossing hundreds of miles of desert just to get into...
Once again the true spirit of America comes shining thru for the World to see. We all come together, united in our resolve to help keep America the home of the brave and land of the free...
That took sacrifices, the sacrifices made by men and women willing to die for their Country so that those of us living today could enjoy our freedoms...
When our Country needed us, there were young men and women who answered the call. To those who haven't served, I say YOU missed the chance of a lifetime to be a part of something great...
When our fellow citizens needed us the most, we were there. The caring, determination, sharing and completion of our mission when we served our Country has been seen by all Americans...
That is what America is all about, those who serve America when we are needed. America remembers, Veterans, remember, Families remember, the World remembers what none of us who have served America have even forgotten...
Let's remember WHY we celebrate Memorial Day because so many have forgotten the REAL reason...
We are not Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives or Liberals on Memorial Day. We are all Americans honoring those who did not return home to be able to celebrate with us...
So we celebrate and honor those who died protecting our great Country, the United States of America...
Please be careful, drive and play safe and here's hoping that have a great Memorial Day wherever you are...
Let's also not forget those who protect and serve us each and every day in our civilian sector. Our EMS, Firefighters and Police who do a very difficult job everyday...
They, just like our Military Men and Women scattered around the World, keep all of 'us' free and safe too...
When you go out this Memorial Day and your path crosses one of those who I've just mentioned, walk up to them and say "THANK YOU"...
Just watch their faces light up and look for the smile, because you've just made 'their' day...
For Now, That's Just 'OUR' Opinion...
Matt Bruce - 2-Time Combat Wounded Vietnam Veteran - Managing Editor & Publisher - News Sarasota.com - "The Captain's AMERICA" Radio Show - Heard Wednesday's From 10 To 11 AM ET - On 1490 WWPR AM Radio Serving Bradenton, Sarasota & Tampa Bay, FL... God Bless America & All Those Who Protect & Serve Her... -------------- Capt MC Bruce - Retired Fire Captain - Sarasota Co REC Member - "The Captain's AMERICA" Radio Program...
How long do we put up with this PC nonsense before we "trow da bums out!"?
Memorial Day is their day, isn't it? It is supposed to be the day a grateful nation pauses to quietly thank the more than one million men and women who have died in military service to their country since the Revolutionary War.
Or is it the day the beach resorts kick into high gear for the summer season, the day the strand is covered by fish-belly white people basting themselves in coconut oil, the day the off-season rates end and the weekend you can't get in a seaside seafood restaurant with anything less than a one hour wait.
Or is it one of the biggest shopping center sales days of the year, a day when hunting for a parking space is the prime sport for the holiday stay-at-homers?
Or is it the weekend when more people will kill themselves on the highways than any other weekend and Highway Patrol troopers work overtime picking up the pieces?
I think the men and women who died for us would understand what we do with their day. I hope they would, because if they wouldn't, if they would have insisted that it be a somber, respectful day of remembrance, then we have blown it and dishonored their sacrifice.
I knew some of those who died, and the guys I knew would have understood.
They liked a sunny beach and a cold beer and a hot babe in a black bikini, too. They would have enjoyed packing the kids, the inflatable rafts, the coolers, and the suntan lotion in the car and heading for the lake. They would have enjoyed staying at home and cutting the grass and getting together with some friends and cooking some steaks on the grill, too.
But they didn't get the chance. They blew up in the Marine Barracks in Beirut and died in the oily waters of the Persian Gulf. They caught theirs at the airstrip in Grenada in the little war everyone laughed at. They bought the farm in the I Drang Valley and on Heartbreak Ridge, Phu Tai and at Hue. They froze at the Chosin Reservoir and were shot at the Pusan Perimeter. They drowned in the surf at Omaha Beach or fell in the fetid jungles of Guadalcanal. They died in the ice and snow of the Bulge and the Vosges Mountains. They were at the Somme and at San Juan Hill and at Gettysburg and at Cerro Gordo and at Valley Forge.
They couldn't be here with us this weekend, but I think they would understand that we don't spend the day in tears and heart-wrenching memorials. They wouldn't want that. Grief is not why they died. They died so we could go fishing. They died so another father could hold his laughing little girl over the waves. They died so another father could toss a baseball to his son in their backyard while the charcoal is getting white. They died so another buddy could drink a beer on his day off. They died so a family could get in the station wagon and go shopping and maybe get some ice cream on the way home.
They won't mind that we have chosen their day to have our first big outdoor party of the year. But they wouldn't mind, either, if we took just a second and thought about them.
Some will think of them formally, of course. Wreaths will be laid in small, sparsely attended ceremonies in military cemeteries and at monuments at state capitols and in small town's squares. Flags will fly over the graves, patriotic words will be spoken and a few people there will probably feel a little anger that no more people showed up. They'll think no one else remembers.
But we do remember. We remember Smitty and Chico, and Davey and the guys who died. We remember the deal we made: If we buy it, we said, drink a beer for me.
I'll do it for you, guys. I'll drink that beer for you today, and I'll sit on that beach for you, and I'll check out the girls for you and, just briefly, I'll think of you. I won't let your memory spoil the trip but you'll be on that sunny beach with me today.
I will not mourn your deaths this Memorial Day, my friends. Rather, I'll celebrate the life you gave me.
This Bud's for you, brother!
-Author Unknown-
Too late. The political left, aided and abetted by the inaction of the spineless right, have seen to that.
Memorial Day used to be Decoration Day, not so long ago. It was a day to remember those from the North who fell during the War Between the States. It had nothing to do with other wars or other times. I guess the Federales wanted to force this holiday upon the sourthern States and so they made it into something else.
But not a mention of this in your article.
ML/NJ
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