THE OLD MEN

Greg Garrison .com ^ | Greg Garrison

[Kimmers]

I posted this before but on Memorial Day I thought it worth a second look......here is to the old men, to our heroes and our warriors...

[ecomcon]

Bump!

[rellimpank]

-—brings back memories of guys just like those-—

[trimom]

Thank God for the old men! Thank God for the young ones, fighting today. Pray that they may grow to be old men.

[230FMJ]

I grew up with those guys too. God how I miss them!

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

I miss my “old” friends every day.My hero's from my childhood became friends in my adulthood and sadly most are not with us anymore.I cherish the memories of these fine men always.

[KC-10A BOOMER]

Thank you for the reminder of the men my father and father-in-law where. Both were veterans, hard working, would give you the shirt off their back, but expected you to be better men than they were. Both are responsible for making me the man I am today.

[united1000]

Thanks Kimmers, I listen to Greg whenever I can.

[El Gato]

I cannot think of one of my father's friends, other than those a half a generation younger than he, who did *not* serve in WW-II. Most never saw combat, but it was hard to tell which had, and which had not, since they rarely spoke of it anyway. My Dad did not see combat, but he would have been in the Battle of the Bulge, in a "green" unit, if not for a timely attack of appendicitis, which saw him recovering from the surgery in a hospital in LeHarve. Having joined in late '42, he spent most of the war in training units of one sort or another, including an exposure to that new fangled radar stuff (which were used to control the searchlights, not yet to control the AAA guns). Both my paternal and maternal uncles served in the Navy. Uncle L got to spend some time in a lifeboat in the Greenland sea, in November of '42, courtesy of a German U-Boat which sank the Liberty Ship Clarke which he served upon as Naval Gun crew. My Uncle M served on a seagoing Tug, and while he never saw combat, he saw plenty of the results in bent and burnt ships, and men.

Similarly my wife's Uncles all served, as did her father. All of them, save my Uncle M, are gone now.

But they really were not any different than the kids who carry M-16s, man the carriers, or otherwise serve today. There were just a whole lot of more of them.

[bannie]

Thank God for the Old Men
I am still blessed with my Father, a WWII Navy veteran.
He is my absolute hero.
Thank God for the Old Women, too.
My Mother is one half of my Hero.

[tubebender]

I took a ride over to “Boot Hill” yesterday to pay my respects to a couple of family members buried there and to cry as I stood looking at a sea of little American Flags placed on the graves of the soldiers of wars past. My brother in law was buried in a new Veterans section in 1997 the cemetery had open because the old Veterans section had filled up. There are now hundreds of of little Flags flying there also...

[BuffaloJack]

Men of Grit.

[Gorzaloon]

"Still others would periodically open the door on their memories, usually late at night and only when the women were absent, and at those times, if a kid was lucky enough to be there, the cigarette smoke would fill the air and the place would go silent as the other men listened with reverence and admiration for the courage and the pain that had been the wars."

I remember.

I remember being a wide-eyed little kid just after WWII, all ears, the very few times the neighborhood Fathers..My Father, (Normandy), the Marine across the street (Pacific), other denizens of the Vets' Club got together on the porch.

Thanks, Guys, for giving, and passing on your lives to us, and letting us listen in.

[Madame Dufarge]

And I am made to wonder at this moment—will any of us ever come close to the stature, the quiet steadfastness and the fundamental, honest, courage that was all of them, our old men.

I often wonder when the feminization of our culture that pathologizes quiet steadfastness (and boyhood) will reach critical mass.

The virtues these old men naturally incorporated into their lives are slowly being drugged and propagandized out of existence.

[ASOC]

Amen and Amen.

You have described my late Father in Law. WWII vet, farmer and father.

The world becomes poorer as each one passes.

[iowamomforfreedom]

Bump - thanks for posting this.

And in an age where lesser men seek the ever-illusive thing called legacy, theirs is secure and steadfast. We should all find ways to simplify, to clarify, and to distill out of life its spiritual and personal essence, for younger eyes are watching us, too. Boys seek examples of manhood to emulate, girls fashion their requisites for the men who will be their husbands. And I am made to wonder at this moment—will any of us ever come close to the stature, the quiet steadfastness and the fundamental, honest, courage that was all of them, our old men.

Without examples such as these men, it is no wonder so many of our youth are as troubled and confused as they are. I wish more of them had had the opportunity to learn life's lessons from our old men. A good reminder to all of us to set a better example.

[eastforker]

My dad was born in 1915, he was a farmer, my mom was born in 1924, her dad was a farmer. The stories and tales I was told as a child will stay with me to my grave. My mother told me how she as a child would plow with two mules back in 1933 when she was nine.All the stories of the old men on butchering day or a barn raising. Let us never forget that freedom is only a generation from extinction, it is not passed down through our bloodlines, it must be fought for and preserved or it will cease to exist. This memorial day let us all give thanks to all the old men that has made this country what it is and the hope that future generations continue to give us that freedom.

[eastforker]

bump to all of you, let us not forget all the old men.

[Eaker]

Thanks for the ping and blurry screen.

[EternalVigilance]

Deserves to go back to the top.

Kimmers, I hope you don't mind, but we picked up this wonderful piece for AIPNews.com.

Madame Dufarge, thank you so much for linking it from the other thread. Greatly appreciated. We owe those old men everything.