Memorial Day Melancholy – An Annual Re-post
Two or three times a year some of us geezer types get a bit tangled up in old times. Late April and much of May include several dates that trigger memories here.
Late April because my pop was declared KIA in Korea on April 25, 1951.
Early May because years ago I was discharged on May 9, 1969 from the Navy after spending over a year around Vietnam.
And then there is Memorial Day. The advertisements for sales and off topic events make the day difficult to avoid, even if I wanted to. So I repeat this post with minor updates.
—-
I was an Army brat the first few years of my life. I have vague memories (or memories of memories?) of several Army posts; in Georgia, in Arizona, and another place or two. Then my dad was deployed to some place called Korea sometime in 1950.
Three additional memories are a bit more vivid – the day we were notified he was Missing in Action and, sometime later, that his remains had been recovered, and finally, his funeral. I wasn’t allowed to go – I was deemed too young.
But, I have a Purple Heart.
He is buried in our home town, and there’s a small memorial in the city park there with his name inscribed. I visit both as often as I can. Even though I was only five or six at the time and will be 69 in about a month I still miss him. I have pictures and memories, and…
I have a Purple Heart.
For many others, like myself, Memorial Day has a face.
We’re past the 50 year anniversary of Vietnam and there is a wall FULL of my brothers and sisters who earned a Purple Heart
So please don’t wish me a happy Memorial Day because…
I have HIS Purple Heart!
Category: Geezer Alert!, We Remember
Love to all of you. God bless you all on this most solemn holiday.
Godbless you – all. Powerful. Thank you.
Just…thank you, very much. God bless you and all those remembering someone we have known, loved and lost.
God bless all of us, each and every honorable one.
I’m remembering you as always, my friend SSgt Bradley Batelle West, , b. 12/16/1947, d. 12/14/1998, US Air Force, SSGT, Plot: 3 0 876, bur. 12/18/1998, Quantico National Cemetery, Triangle, Prince William County, Virginia
I’m honoring and thinking of you; WO David Meyer KIA May 1971 Cambodia. Also the five Navy Sea Wolves who we shared a flight line with. KIA September, 1971
Rest easy bro’s I think of all of you often! You are not forgotten!
For my colleagues from MNF-I HQs: COL Brian Allgood, COL Paul Kelly, and CSM Marilyn Gabbard, all Killed in Action on 20 Jan 2007 in Diyala Province, Iraq.
Gone But Not Forgotten…
A purple heart a gold star…old pictures and lost days, almost 60,000 on that wall. That quiet, jagged, black wall of names.
When you consider that there have been over 15,000 days since the end of the war in 1972 and you multiply that times those 60,000 people that is an awful lot of lost days for an awful lot of families.
Hardly seems like a picnic day for me.
Thank you hardly seems fitting for those who made that final sacrifice, Rest In Peace seems a small offering.
Perhaps those who think it’s just another day for eating and drinking and buying some consumer goods at a discount could take a few minutes and consider how lucky they are that their loved ones are sitting nearby and spending valuable hours and days together, something that any one of those purple heart/gold star families would give anything for in order to experience one more day with their loved one.
Nicely said ZP…my best to you this weekend, I know it’s of little comfort but our thoughts are with you.
Dammit! I didn’t want to cry today….
Tell you what Zero – we have to add a few numbers onto your username, cause you’re one in a million.
I have a feeling that there are a lot of similar stories with the great people that comment within these pages….thanks for your service, for the memorial and for such a wonderful personal story.
God Bless.
Corporal James F. Worth, Sub Unit One, 1st ANGLICO, Viet Nam, MIA/KIA April 1972, Body not recovered.
Good man, Good Friend, Good Marine, Rest in Peace, Jimmy.
SEMPER FI,
Hartford 26 Bravo
Godspeed to all of those lost in the never ending assault on our country.
God bless all the families that have suffered the loss of their loved ones.
The only thing harder than being a Trooper is loving one.
Great reminder ZP. Thank you and God Bless you and the rest of your family.
Sgt. John E. Allen, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division
8 Jun. 1981 – 17 Mar. 2007, KIA Baghdad, Iraq.
Rest in peace my friend, you are not forgotten.
CWO Lawrence Babyak. 29 Nov. 1969, KIA Vietnam.
Cobra AH-1 pilot in the 1st Cav. Div.
One of those guys who personified the “I can” in the word American. RIP, warrior.
Wasn’t going to:
SP/4 Clint Collins, “I” Troop, 3rd Sqd. 11th Armored Cavalry, I-26…..8 May 1968, Duc Hoa, Vietnam, RPG – while fighting against a reinforced regiment of North Vietnamese Regulars.