Memorial Day FGS
“Freedom does not come without a price. We may sometimes take for granted the many liberties we enjoy in America, but they have all been earned through the ultimate sacrifice paid by so many of the members of our armed forces.”
Monday Feel Good Stories is closed today in memory of those who fell in order to grant Americans the freedoms we enjoy today. Gather with family and friends, go to the beach, have a cookout, watch a parade. They wouldn’t have it any other way, but take a moment to reflect on their sacrifice.
AW1Ed
Category: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy
Enjoy your hotdog. Toss a few beanbags or horseshoes. Enjoy the rain if that’s what you have. Tip your hat, your beer and play safe.
Of for a short bike ride in local parade CVMA & legion riders. And yes, guys with vests and patches and pins.
Noon ceremony by our VFW. Also, nearby Veterans Cemetery doing one. (We actually managed to schedule them so that they do not conflict.) A good day to remember, reflect, and to live out the dreams that others can’t.
Small Church ‘ bout halfway down the dead end road. Been there since the 18teens. A multitude of forgotten boys from several wars. They won’t be forgotten today.
Spending some mental time with some brothers that didnt make it home, or if they did: they couldnt shake their demons.
Saw a program on Fox last night. Had the Lutrell brothers, Chad Fleming, and Rep. Kinzinger last night. Just caught the end of it, but they suggested that people pick a fallen service member, and dedicate their BBQ, party, whatever today to them.
Not a bad idea..
Went to the state national cemetery to visit my relatives interred there on Saturday. The volunteers were busy putting thousands of flags on each and every grave marker.
I was watching my toddlers running around the gravestones of this final and everlasting formation of troops I was thinking maybe they were being disrespectful playing in a cemetery. Then I realized that nothing would make standing in a formation more enjoyable than having some cute kids break it up acting like kids.
Most CrossFit gyms are holding the traditional Memorial Day workout today in memory of fallen SEAL LT Michael Murphy, USN, who was KIA in Afghanistan in 2005. The workout as prescribed consists of:
a 1-mile run
100 pullups
200 pushups
300 air squats
another 1-mile run
all performed with a 20-lb weighted vest
For those CrossFitters who are still working up to that level or rehabbing from injury, the workout is scaled or modified to each person’s ability.
My family and I participated this morning for the second year in a row, and all of us completed the full workout, although only one son finished the workout as prescribed (except for the vest). The rest of us modified the pullups, and I also modified the pushups.
Thanks for posting that Eden. That workout is truly evil! Not surprising that a SEAL like Lt. Murphy came up with it.. Good on you and your family for completing it!
To me, it’s a feel good story that there’re still people here who remember what the day means.
I’m inclined to still go with the original day of May 30th. It’s about 25 miles to the nearest town with a cemetery but when I get off work Thursday I’ll probably drive down and put flags on a couple of graves that seem to be forgotten every Memorial and Veterans Days.
I remember my mother telling me of Memorial Day celebrations when she was in school prior to WWII. They always included the reading of a poem… In Flanders Fields. As it is Memorial Day, maybe we should reflect on those words again. In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. – John McRae In slightly less than two weeks we will mark the 75th Anniversary of the Allied invasion of Fortress Europe. I don’t use the term celebrate, as war is not something to celebrate but it should be remembered. And those who made the ultimate sacrifice should be remembered and their lives celebrated. I’m one of the lucky ones. My father’s headstone in the National Cemetery is inscribed World War II, Korea, Vietnam. My mother’s headstone is inscribed Korea. While they served our country well, neither was called on to make the supreme sacrifice for the Freedom I enjoy today. I’ll wrap this up with something I’ve come to relearn over the last couple decades. No Freedom Isn’t Free I watched the flag pass by one day. It fluttered in the breeze. A young Marine saluted it, And then he stood at ease. I looked at him in uniform So young, so tall, so proud, With hair cut square and eyes alert He’d stand out in any crowd. I thought how many men like him Had fallen through the years. How many died on foreign soil? How many mothers’ tears? How many pilots’ planes shot down? How many died at sea? How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves? No, freedom isn’t… Read more »