[Focault's Pendulum]

To every Veteran...Thank You.

[judicial meanz]

My brother served in 13 months of hard combat as a rifleman in the USMC in Vietnam, was combat wounded and was my hero growing up. Now he is a coach for a HS football team.When he was recovering from his last combat injury with us at the VA near our home in 1969, I learned how much I loved him and how much of a difference he had made in my life.

My father was wounded so badly in WWII he ended up being out of action for 9 months. He started an Electrical contracting company and ran it for 43 years after this happened, in spite of serious disabilities.At age 78, he just kicked cancer, smokes a half dozen cigars a day, and cusses a blue streak. Everyone I know loves him for his humanity and soft heartedness towards children and animals.

My grandfather was wounded in WWI as a Marine in the battle of Belleau Wood. He hated mud for the rest of his life, and he died right before I went into the military. His last words before I joined were "come back with your shield or on it". This spirit was common in the men of that time, who fought a then-unknown enemy and routed them with sheer valor.

One of my best friends volunteered to do one more strategic patrol in 1980 before his EAOS expired. He had a wife and two kids. He died on that patrol at age 26, a man who had given a little over 6 years of his life towards freedom, and never knew the outcome of his selfless courage and determination to preserve our country and way of life.

Those guys are my some of my heros. I served too, and continue to serve. I hope some day I measure up to half of their shoes.

[SSN558]

"To every Veteran...Thank You."

Your thanks are accepted. Don't ever call me a Hero it is not all it is cracked up to be, I dispise that term. Jessica Lynch has been called a hero, the truth is that she is just a broken girl and may never speak about the exploits that she was a part of.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

All my family were heroes

[RedBloodedAmerican]

No, last name is not Dalmer.

[wrbones]

My family is a relatively small one and it's service to our nation can be readily (but painstakingly!) traced on the net. We have served from the days of the Colonial Army to the present, with members from one branch of the family or another leaving a continual, almost unbroken, record of military service to our present times. Some were decorated heros and advisors to those in D.C., one was even a General, most of the rest of us were 'plain' riflemen and grunts. Many who serve in the Armed Forces of the United States can say the same or more. My story is not all that unusual.

We have participated in nearly every major historical event in our nation's history, from our immigration in 1710 to becoming pioneering plainsmen and partaking in both gold rushes to becoming city founders and serving as local politicians.

In my direct family, I have two brothers who served in the Army and one besides myself who served in the Marine Corps, an uncle who fought with the Army in Europe during WWII, two cousins who served with the Air Force during VietNam, and my father served with the Air Force during the Korean War. We have members of the family buried in National Cemeteries from coast to coast, including a few in Arlington. As long as there is a United States to serve, there will be members of my family to serve it. We are generally a family of patriots and believers in freedom.

Having said that, looking back upon my own run of the mill service in a 'peace time' Marine Corps, I have to say that anyone who served in the military in any capacity, whether burning shitters, swabbing the deck, or charging the beach is someone to be shown respect and given our gratitude.The sacrifices are incredible and cannot be truly understood without having BTDT.

To those civilians who appreciate that sacrifice, I thank you. Your thanks mean more than can be said or told.

To those who wish to become more actively involved in 'service'to, or attempts to help Veterans, there is political activism on behalf of Veterans as well as service locally, as has been suggested in an earlier post. But, mostly, just a 'Thank you." and a "Welcome Home." is enough to bring tears to the eyes of many who have served.

[redrock]

"To every Veteran...Thank You."

NO...Thank YOU for caring enough to say it.

redrock

p.s....MEMORIAL DAY 2003--#1--"My Daddy's Finally Home..." HERE

MEMORIAL DAY 2003-#2--"The Lesson's of Danny Flynn, Corey DePooter, Billy Scott & Earl Brown" HERE

MEMORIAL DAY 2003--#3--"I Came to See My Son's Name" HERE

MEMORIAL DAY 2003-#4--"WELCOME HOME!!!!" HERE

[Chu Gary]

Well, if you have no one to grieve, you can say a brief prayer for two of my former friends. Ed McHenry was one of my best friends in High School; he was shot in the head and died near Phu Bai in Vietnam in 1966. Another friend, Randy, one of my friends at my dorm at the Univ. of Illinois was a helicopter pilot who didn't make that last landing in 1967 or so.

Be well, stay well.