Memorial Day 2009- THANK YOU!
 

a midst picnics and racing, let's not forget our fallen veterans. THANK YOU to our living veterans and active servicemen and women.:tro: :tro: :tro:

Well said buddy.....

A site worth visiting today in remembrance.

http://thewall-usa.com/information.asp

"Look at that bum."

My son said it with a passing indifference as he got out of the car and walked toward the video store, not realizing that i was having one of those moments... a moment of hyprocrisy.

Sure, I've thought that. I think we all have. I'm not so high and mighty here.

The thing is I knew something my son was too young to realize... that a lot of these 'bums" are the children who went to, were forced to go to or volunteered for, Viet Nam.

I dropped a dollar in his makeshift basket and he looked up at me from his termorary home on the ground. His face was old but his eyes were young and I tried to imagine him, in that three-second interaction, as a young man. Tucked in his coat in this 80 degree weather was a puppy.

I'm no one to judge who should and should not have a pet... it was the love, the tenderness that struck me.

Even those we fear or want to step away from, those "bums" who may or may not make us a little uncomfortable... they search for love too.

Loving thoughts and prayers today for the families of those who paid the ultimate price, to those who served because it was honorable and their duty, to those who were forced to go to places they feared, to those who did not return, and to those who did but who came back broken in some way... mising limbs or having witnessed unspeakable acts, those whose lives were forever changed and who became outcasts. The heroes, the forgotten, the still-missing in action.

So many of them were children. It doesn't matter if it was World War I or the Gulf War. So many who were 18 and hadn't yet experienced things that most of us have and do without so much as a second thought.

Even though this day has become synonymous with sales at the mall I think most of us understand that that's not what it's about at all.

Thank you for serving. Whether or not we agree(d) with the policies or the war(s) we appreciate all of you and your families.

...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.~excerpt from the Gettysburg Address.


"Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. American will never forget their sacrifices."~Harry Truman


It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.~George Patton


Thanks to all who served and to those who are serving now.

:tro: :tro: :tro:

It has? I think not.

Many thanks to those that have served, are serving and mostly to those that have paid the ultimate price.

Well Said MMSC,and Ziggy! I wanted to add some info about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Sentinels who guard it. I found it fascinating.
http://www.snopes.com/military/unknown.asp

Very cool that NASCAR stopped their race for:

"The White House Commission on Remembrance is an independent government agency, established by Congress, whose missions include: promoting the spirit of unity and remembrance through observance of The National Moment of Remembrance at 3 PM local time on Memorial Day; ensuring the nation remembers the sacrifices of America’s fallen from the Revolutionary War to the present; and recognizing those who have served and those who continue to serve our great nation and reminding all Americans of our common heritage."

:tro: :tro: :tro:
well said G