Free Republic

When she lived in her native Poland, Danuta Kowalik would bring her two young boys to a cemetery this time of year and solemnly visit the dead soldiers. "Somebody," she would explain, "needs to say ‘Thank you' to them." When she moved to Chicago's suburbs in 1991, Kowalik kept the tradition, changing only the day of the visits. Instead of the early May anniversary of Germany's World War II surrender, she adopted America's Memorial Day. This year, she'll be going back to a cemetery, but so much has changed. Today, she will be saying ‘Thank you' to her own soldier,...

Names of the four US Marines who died in yesterday's helicopter crash: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of Bloomington, Ill. Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston, Texas Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey, 29, of Baltimore, Md. The Pentagon has just released the names of two more US Marines who were killed in Iraq. I'll post as soon as I find that.