Memorial

[shereads]

Faces of the Fallen:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

 

[Guest]

 

[shereads]

Thousands of roses.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Thousands of roses.

Why have we not started a candle thread for the fallen and their families?

 

[jomar]

Wow. I hope all it all gets filled in. Very powerful. Thanks.

I was a child then, but remember names of Vietnam vets scrolling down the TV screen.

 

[shereads]

Why have we not started a candle thread for the fallen and their families?

Faces of the Fallen does a pretty good job of that, at least for me. Click on a picture at random; study a stranger's face, acknowledge the life and the loss...Feel that mixture of guilt and relief that comes with closing the window and moving on.

My particular weakness is the ones with the goofy high-school yearbook grins. They leave cracks in my heart.

 

[Weird Harold]

WWII:
http://www.jeffblaylock.com/window/photos/0521.jpg
Iwo Jima:
http://www.visitingdc.com/images/iwo-jima-picture.jpg
Korea:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1157/1223977692_f84b0998f2.jpg
Vietnam:
http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/upload/schools/sullivan/406-vietnam-memorial.jpg
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier:
http://z.about.com/d/dc/1/7/U/9/guard3.jpg

 

[shereads]

In memory of my paternal grandfather who was awarded the Croix de Guerre for heroic service in WWI as a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

My grandfather didn't die in battle, but I'm counting him anyway - because whatever he experienced in the Argonne Forest was so grisly he never told anyone how he won his medal. Wouldn't speak of it. Drank to excess. Died slowly from alcoholism and brutal memories.

I wish I had known you, Grandpa Charlie. I have your books. You made margin notes in Ovid and Homer. My dad told me a lot of your favorite jokes. He inherited your love of dogs and books and the outdoors, and passed those on to me.

I found your Army Signal Corps binoculars and the leather case with your name scratched on the front, in pencil. I kept them for a long time; last month, they went to your great-grandson, who is 18 now. He's proud of them. Proud of you.

May you have peace.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

In memory of my paternal grandfather who was awarded the Croix de Guerre for heroic service in WWI as a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

My grandfather didn't die in battle, but I'm counting him anyway - because whatever he experienced in the Argonne Forest was so grisly he never told anyone how he won his medal. Wouldn't speak of it. Drank to excess. Died slowly from alcoholism and brutal memories.

I wish I had known you, Grandpa Charlie. I have your books. You made margin notes in Ovid and Homer. My dad told me a lot of your favorite jokes. He inherited your love of dogs and books and the outdoors, and passed those on to me.

I found your Army Signal Corps binoculars and the leather case with your name scratched on the front, in pencil. I kept them for a long time; last month, they went to your great-grandson, who is 18 now. He's proud of them. Proud of you.

May you have peace.

I can't help but wonder if your grandfather in the Signal Corps and mine in the Corps of Engineers might have encountered each other in the Argonne. Grandfather Paul never spoke of his struggles in front of the trenches, either. Except for a total loathing of corned beef and a single black-ribboned campaign medal he left his family no record of where he served or what he did. Yes, RIP, Grandfather.

 

[shereads]

I can't help but wonder if your grandfather in the Signal Corps and mine in the Corps of Engineers might have encountered each other in the Argonne.

I'll bet they did.

Maybe they shared a troop ship, too. I found and framed a menu from the Mauritania dated 1917 - used as a troop ship? - and I know there were "French Green Beans."
No corned beef, at least not that night.

 

[sutherngent985]

To all who have served, fallen and not, since the beginning of our country I wanted to say THANK YOU for securing the freedoms we enjoy here. Thank you for making the sacrifices you, and your loved ones, made.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Thanks for the reminder.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

To the courageous and the brave ones who have fallen to keep our nation, our world free, I honor you.

 

[cloudy]

Faces of the Fallen:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

My cousin is there; his picture. He was one of the first there, and one of the first to die.

 

[sutherngent985]

My cousin is there; his picture. He was one of the first there, and one of the first to die.

 

[McKenna]

For my uncle who served in Korea, . He, like Sher's grandfather, experienced things so grisly and horrific that he rarely, if ever, spoke of them. He lived a quiet life, forever changed by the things he experienced there. He was brilliant, an absolute genius, who read everything ever put before him. He was tall and solidly-built, a real mountain of a man whose strength was equally matched by his intelligence. Though he survived Korea, he was killed a few years ago when his van was hit by a semi-truck on icy roads.

Miss you, Uncle D.

 

[JagFarlane]

To my grandfather [Artillery], veteran of Korea. He survived, only to have his efforts downplayed by WWII vets whom said it wasn't a real war, whom made him feel like his efforts were for naught, until the last year or two before his death, when they finally started to remember Korean Vets.

My other grandfather [Infantry], whom is still only able to talk about his experiences in Korea to me and my father. Whom was ashamed of his service until they finally started to recognize Korean vets.

My dad [Rangers], whom lost many a friend due to Nam, who still cannot watch We Were Soldiers or BlackHawk Down without bawling.

My uncle [Army MP], whom served in Nam, Ft Dix, and Germany.

 

[Gizzmotick]

My Grandfather - US Army Air Corps - WWII. I'm not sure where all he served...

My Uncle - who recently retired from the Air Force as a Lt. Colonel. Saw action in more places than he's allowed to talk about.

(and I can't believe I'm about to add him here) My Dad... who was retired by the Navy as a Lieutenant.

 

[Guest]

To my father-in-law, who lied about his age to get into the army in WWII. He lost most of his foot in the Ruhr Valley and has not spoken of his experiences to this day.

To my father, retired USAF, Vietnam Vet, who experienced as many horrors returning home to unfriendly crowds as he did overseas, so he's said.

He hasn't spoken of it either, except to share severak reasons he'll never eat white rice again.

 

[shereads]

My cousin is there; his picture. He was one of the first there, and one of the first to die.

 

[JagFarlane]

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/POLITICS/05/26/memorial.day/t1home.bush.arlington.ap.jpg

Arlington Cemetery wreath laying

 

[impressive]

 

[Belegon]

Both my grandfathers served in WWII, and my father in Vietnam and my brother in various places he's not allowed to talk about... And my cousin is between deployments to Iraq.

But they all came back...

So I will say a memorial for a man I never met. A man whose name I made a rubbing of to give to the son he never met, who was my best friend through High School and remains dear to me.

I'm sorry you never met your son. You would be terribly proud of him.

 

[sutherngent985]

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/POLITICS/05/26/memorial.day/t1home.bush.arlington.ap.jpg

Arlington Cemetery wreath laying

God what a hypocrite...this after he used his connections to stay safe during Viet Nam.