[Oldeconomybuyer]

[Red Badger]

Semper Fi, Marine.
Rest in Peace, bro.....................

[GreyFriar]

Rest in Peace Marine.

[D_Idaho]

Somehow, “Thank you for your service” seems inadequate for a man like this. God speed, Sir. Time to go home.

[BBQToadRibs2]

Not many of that generation left, unfortunately.

Rest in peace.

[SuperLuminal]

Semper Fi...
R.I.P.

[Jolla]

Semper Fi

La Jolla is one of the most beautiful places ever, glad he could live out his years there after the hell he experienced.

Eleanor Roosevelt said:

“The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen.

[libertylover]

Thank you, Colonel. The flag up there was inspirational.

Also remember though: several of the men who actually planted the flag didn’t make it off of Iwo Jima alive.

[PROCON]

RIP Marine, we thank you for your service to America and to our freedom.

[stevem]

My Dad invaded Iwo Jima. He landed about noon on D-Day. He was a Navy Pharmacist's Mate (Medic). His group landed and was mortared back into the ocean and had to come in again a short time later.

It's inevitable but sad as these connections with that era pass. It is truly the end of an era that so many alive today don't appreciate. I guess that is inevitable, too.

Rest in peace. You earned it.

[Jane Austen]

RIP

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[Cuttnhorse]

One of my favorite places in D.C.

[Bigg Red]

May his soul rest in peace.
May Perpetual Light shine upon him.

I am just finishing up “The Rifle” by Andy Biggio. Highly recommend it.

[Howie66]

Rest in peace, Col. Severance. Semper Fi!

[Allegra]

Rest in Heavenly peace, sir. You have earned it. You spent your time in Hell.

[Dan in Wichita]

I wonder if Sgt. Stryker was in his command. For those of you who may not know, Stryker was a fictional character played by John Wayne in The Sands of Iwo Jima. One of my favorite movies of all time.

Toward the end of the movie, Stryker gets a call from his commanding officer, instructing him that it was time to raise the large U.S. flag atop Mt. Suribachi. He calls over several Marines, who in real life were some of the men who supposedly raised the flag, gives them the flag with orders to get it raised. My eyes get watery every time.

[rlmorel]

I keep people like this in my memory. When they pass, and I pass... It brings to mind one of my favorite passage, bittersweet and sad from Tales of The South Pacific by James Michener:

"...They will live a long time, these men of the South Pacific. They had an American quality. They, like their victories, will be remembered as long as our generation lives. After that, like the men of the Confederacy, they will become strangers. Longer and longer shadows will obscure them, until their Guadalcanal sounds distant on the ear like Shiloh and Valley Forge..."

It applies to all these men of that generation, not just those of the South Pacific. You could substitute "Schweinfurt" or "Iwo Jima" for "Guadalcanal", and "European Theater" for "South Pacific" and it would mean just the same.

[oh8eleven]

You were America's shining light for decades -
and we could use you again in the coming years.

Semper Fi sir.

[South Dakota]

A guy I knew was a pipe fitter on a navy ship and he received an order for a certain size and length of pipe.

He welded two pieces together and handed it over.

He wondered if his pipe was used for the second flag