Can you believe it, it's Memorial Day already? What does Memorial Day mean to you? Have you had relatives serve in our Military? Share with us stories you have heard from your family and friends. If you have no stories, research and share a story or poem you have found. We have our freedoms because of brave men and women that serve our country. Do we really realize how lucky we are to live in the USA?
I'll share with you a story from my father-in-law during WWII. He was a platoon leader and they were in a small town along the Rhine River in Germany. He had received orders during the day that the following morning he and his group were to cross the Rhine River. He was very troubled with the news. They could hear the Germans all night; they were on the other side of the river. He felt he and his group would be killed the next morning. He prayed to God to help his father. He had lost his mother just a few years earlier and he worried that his death would me more than his father could handle. As his group prepared to leave the next morning my father-in-law received new orders. They were to go further down the river to aid another group, they were not to cross at this time. A different group was given the assignment to cross the Rhine. As my father-in-laws group was leaving they could hear the bullets. Everyone that crossed the river that morning was killed. It was a sad day.
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My cousin’s ex-husband served in Iraq for their first 2 years of marriage. He had many different jobs to do. He never liked to talk about them because he was so “damaged” from what he had witnessed. I remember one story however that he told me and after hearing it I couldn’t imagine how to go on with my life. He was with one of his friends that he had met while staying there and they where outside smoking a cigarette. He told me that he could feel death in the air and it gave him an eerie feeling inside. He was having a conversation with his friend and then all of the sudden he was gone. A sniper shot his arm off and he was dead, instantly. If I were to see something like this ever in my life I know that I would go insane.
ReplyDeleteMemorial day means that we should all remember all who have fought in the wars before the iraqi one. everyone is happy on this day, but deep down, everyone who had someone die in a war is sad. memorial day is one of those holidays in which i love because i can be with my family and friends. that is what memorial day is about, being together
ReplyDeletezachary gore
Memorial Day has now become a day of reflection and remembrance. It is a day to remember all of our Fallen Heroes from all of the wars. It is a day to think about the families that will forever grieve for their lost loved one. It is a day to be thankful to those who have served and made the ultimate sacrifice. They fought and died to win the freedom and democracy that we Americans cherish so dearly. They also fought and died to bring that same freedom and democracy to the people of other countries as well. My brother-in-law served in the marine course for four years. He told me some crazy stories like one that he told me was that he was suppose to be in the tank but he was on top of it and it blew up and he watched his friend die and crazy things like that.
ReplyDelete-Ashley Siedlecki
To me, Memorial Day is a time to remember those who have served our country. My grandfather served in World War II, he was a foot soldier. He would tell us of times when he had to dig fox holes and live in them for days, living off a small amount of bread and bugs. He was near the top of a building when it was blown up, both of his legs were competely shattered and he had to spend months in the hospital. This is just one of the many stories he shared with me.
ReplyDelete-Emily Farren
Nobody in my family has served in the US army, so on Memorial Day our family pretty much sits around and treats it like a normal day. Sometimes we will have friends over or something but my parents are hippies so they aren't really into the whole order/structure/discipline spectrum of life [a.k.a. the services]. My dad told me Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day because everyone would put up their American-themed flags and banners. This strikes me as funny because now Memorial Day is a tiny tribute to our former, current, and "fallen" soldiers in the services. And it used to be a day where someone would hang an American flag.
ReplyDeleteLeigh Dräger
Several members of my family have served in one branch of the military at least. A family friend, Robert Williamson, served four tours of duty during the Vietnamese War. He and his brother were both drafted, his brother was two years old than he and had a wife and two children. Both of the brothers wanted to serve, but Robert was concerned that his nephews would grow up without a father if his brother was to be killed in action. The family ended up getting Robert’s brother, John, a waver, so he ultimately didn’t have to serve in the war. Robert served his tours of duty and became a Green Beret. Robert went on several high intensity missions, some of which were into Cambodia, where U.S. soldiers weren’t supposed to be, and to summarize his worst experience of the war was when he, a four-manned squad of U.S. soldiers, and a four-manned squad of Vietnamese paramilitary were dropped off to do a patrol and gather as much intelligence as they could and to kill any opposing forces. About 30 minutes into the patrol the South Vietnamese soldiers declared that they were not going to fight, and at that point the U.S. soldiers had to make a decision to either take the South Vietnamese as prisoners or to take their weapons and leave, since they were under very limited radio communications so the U.S. soldiers could not report in to as what was going on. The soldiers just left the South Vietnamese where they were, but took their weapons, and continued on with their almost 24 hour long patrol with limited radio communications to anyone. This was Robert’s worst experience of the war, because the South Vietnamese that they had left knew the entire patrol plan and they could plan an ambush at any time. Robert and his squad got through the patrol safely, and he received several commendations from President Nixon and has had many other experiences throughout the war, one of the medals that Robert received was the Purple Heart. Robert was very proud to have served in the military during this time period; however, he has only one regret and that is that the United States did not accomplish their objective in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteSeveral members of my family have served in one branch of the military at least. A family friend, Robert Williamson, served four tours of duty during the Vietnamese War. He and his brother were both drafted, his brother was two years old than he and had a wife and two children. Both of the brothers wanted to serve, but Robert was concerned that his nephews would grow up without a father if his brother was to be killed in action. The family ended up getting Robert’s brother, John, a waver, so he ultimately didn’t have to serve in the war. Robert served his tours of duty and became a Green Beret. Robert went on several high intensity missions, some of which were into Cambodia, where U.S. soldiers weren’t supposed to be, and to summarize his worst experience of the war was when he, a four-manned squad of U.S. soldiers, and a four-manned squad of Vietnamese paramilitary were dropped off to do a patrol and gather as much intelligence as they could and to kill any opposing forces. About 30 minutes into the patrol the South Vietnamese soldiers declared that they were not going to fight, and at that point the U.S. soldiers had to make a decision to either take the South Vietnamese as prisoners or to take their weapons and leave, since they were under very limited radio communications so the U.S. soldiers could not report in to as what was going on. The soldiers just left the South Vietnamese where they were, but took their weapons, and continued on with their almost 24 hour long patrol with limited radio communications to anyone. This was Robert’s worst experience of the war, because the South Vietnamese that they had left knew the entire patrol plan and they could plan an ambush at any time. Robert and his squad got through the patrol safely, and he received several commendations from President Nixon and has had many other experiences throughout the war, one of the medals that Robert received was the Purple Heart. Robert was very proud to have served in the military during this time period; however, he has only one regret and that is that the United States did not accomplish their objective in Vietnam. Memorial day means to me is to remember and thank all of the men and women who have fought or served for our safety.
ReplyDeleteHappy Memorial Day
--Chris Burk
Memorial Day means that we should remember people who fought in wars. My grandfather fought in the Lebanese War. He fought bravely according to my father. During the war my grandfather had to go with his unit to a valley. It was reported all of them died. But after a week my grandfather was found alive but wounded.
ReplyDeleteAmenda Haddad
Wow, many very intense and interesting stories. Thank you for sharing. As you can see, it's an honor to serve and an honor to citizens of the USA to have these brave men and women serve. The next time you meet or discover someone has served in the USA military, you may want to thank them. It's their sacrifice that gives us our freedoms we enjoy today. Mrs. Lang
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