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"A HERO IS ONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO HANG ON, ONE MINUTE LONGER " ~ Novalis ~
NEVER MY SOUL,
STILL THE SONG,
OF WOUNDED HEARTS,
THEIR LOVED ONE GONE.....
OF HIM WHO GAVE HIS LIFE, FOR ME.....
THAT I MIGHT LIVE, IN LIBERTY.
Some Gave All...
"THOSE WHO HAVE LONG ENJOYED SUCH PRIVILEGES AS WE ENJOY, FORGET IN TIME, THAT MEN HAVE DIED TO WIN THEM." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt ~
THE VIETNAM MEMORIAL WALL
A SOLDIER'S QUOTE:
You've never lived until you've almost died, for those who fought for it, life has a flavor the protected will never know. -Anon., from Viet Nam, 1968
“LEST I KEEP MY COMPLACENT WAY, I MUST REMEMBER... SOMEWHERE OUT THERE A PERSON DIED FOR ME... AS LONG AS THERE MUST BE WAR, I ASK AND I MUST ANSWER...WAS I WORTH DYING FOR? ~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~
~TELL THEM OF US AND SAY...FOR THEIR TOMORROWS...WE GAVE OUR TODAY.~
"THE MOON GIVES YOU LIGHT ~ THE BUGLES AND THE DRUMS GIVE YOU MUSIC ~ AND MY HEART, O MY SOLDIERS ~ MY VETERANS ~ MY HEART GIVES YOU LOVE." ~Walt Whitman ~
~LOOK AGAIN, O HEART OF MINE, AND SEE WHAT PASSES BY!.....A CRYING OF REMEMBERED NAMES.....OF DEEDS THAT SHALL NOT DIE. ~
Excerpt from "Memorial Day"
by Theodosia Pickering Garrison 1874~1944
Our dead brothers still live for us and bid us think of life,
not death-of life to which in their youth
they lent the passion and joy of the spring.
As I listen, the great chorus of life and joy begins again
and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers
and destinies of good and evil our trumpets sound once more.
a note of daring, hope and will.
I see them now, as once I saw them on this earth.
They are the same bright figures that come also before your eyes and when I speak of those who were my brothers,
the same words describe yours.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes ~
A CARD FOR DAVY BAKER
Our European arrogance in alphabetical order
American cemeteries in Europe
My nephew Shawn, returned from Baghdad, Iraq ,
to Ft Riley, KS. Sept. 27, 2009
THE SOLDIER, ABOVE ALL OTHERS IS REQUIRED TO PERFORM THE HIGHEST ACT OF RELIGIOUS TEACHING ~ SACRIFICE." General Douglas MacArthur
The present day 2-77th, has completed their move downrange
and is transitioning into position the week of June 9th in Afghanistan.
GOD BE WITH THEM AND ALL OUR TROOPS
A PAIN, NO ONE CAN HEAL...
A MEMORY NO ONE CAN STEAL...
A SOLDIER'S DEATH GIVES MORE YET...
IT LEAVES BEHIND A LESSON TO IMMITATE.....
A LESSON.....NO ONE SHOULD EVER FORGET.
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 free.
I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.
"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.
And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.
Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam
Listed as KIA February 7, 1978
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"THE SOLDIER ABOVE ALL OTHERS, PRAYS FOR PEACE,
FOR IT IS THE SOLDIER WHO MUST SUFFER
AND BEAR THE DEEPEST WOUNDS AND SCARS OF WAR"
~ General Douglas MacArthur ~
No matter how long we are on this earth,
The more we have to realize
That life finds us living every day
With the unanswered
And the unresolved.
Faith helps us to live with the unanswered...
Hope helps us to live with the unresolved...
Trust helps us to accept...
And go on with the work of living.
~Rev. Mark Connolly~
A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check Made payable to "The United States of America " for an amount of "up to and including my life". That is Honor, and there are way too many people in This country who no longer understand it."
An exerpt from the epilogue of Hal Moore's & Joe Galloway's book
"We Are Soldiers Still".
We think of our fallen comrades, forever young as we grow old, and of how they died before they had even begun to live. We were all young then and had no real understanding then of all they would never know - the joy of a good woman’s love, of watching our children grow, of savoring all that is good and bad in a long life. We who were fortunate enough to survive have tasted all those experiences and now we know all that they gave up when they laid down their precious lives for us. Far from fading in memory, the pain and sorrow only grow more accute.We are the fortunate ones! We survived when so many better men all around us gave up their precious lives so that we might live. We owe them a sacred obligation to use each day to its fullest potential, working to make this world a better place for our having lived and their having died.We fell an obligation to give something back to our country and our troops in a time when we are, again, at war and these young men and women will b e fighting that war and other wars. We owe that to this generation of warriors just as we owe it to our fallen comrades.Each of us, in his own way, continues to serve our country because.....We Are Soldiers Still.
A VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE
By Patrick Camunes
At first there was no place for us to go until someone put up that Black Granite Wall. Now, everyday and night, my Brothers and my Sisters wait to see the many people from places afar file in front of this Wall. Many stopping briefly and many for hours and some that come on a regular basis. It was hard at first, not that it's gotten any easier, but it seems that many of the attitudes towards that war that we were involved in have changed. I can only pray that the ones on the other side have learned something and more Walls as this one needn't be built.
Several members of my unit and many that I did not recognize have called me to the Wall by touching my name that is engraved upon it. The tears aren't necessary but are hard even for me to hold back.
Touch the Wall, my Brothers, so that we can share in the memories that we had. I have learned to put the bad memories aside and remember only the pleasant times that we had together. Tell our other Brothers out there to come and visit me, not to say Good Bye but to say Hello and be together again to ease that pain of loss we all share.
Today, an irresistible and loving call comes from the Wall. As I approach I can see an elderly lady and as I get closer I recognize her...It's Momma! I've looked forward to this day, but also regretted it because I didn't know what my reaction would be.
Next to her, I suddenly see my wife and immediately think how hard it must have been for her to come to this place and my mind floods with the pleasant memories of 30 years past. There's a young man in a military uniform standing with his arm around her...My God!...It's...it has to be my son. Look at him trying to be the man without a tear in his eye. I yearn to tell him how proud I am, seeing him standing tall, straight and proud in his uniform. Momma comes closer and touches the Wall and I feel the soft and gentle touch I had not felt in so many years. Dad has crossed to this side of the Wall and through our touch, I try to convey to her that Dad is doing fine and is no longer suffering or feeling pain.
I see my wife's courage building as she sees Momma touch the Wall and she approaches and lays her hand on my waiting hand. All the emotions, feelings and memories of three decades past flash between our touch and I tell her that it's all right. Carry on with your life and don't worry about me...I can see as I look into her eyes that she hears and understands. A burden is gone. I watch as they lay flowers and other memories of my past. My lucky charm that was taken from me and sent to her by my CO, a tattered and worn teddy bear that I can barely remember having as I grew up as a child and several medals that I had earned and were presented to my wife. One of them is the Combat Infantry Badge that I am very proud of and I notice that my son is also wearing this medal. I had earned mine in Vietnam and he had probably earned his in Iraq.
I can tell they are preparing to leave. I try to take a mental picture of them together, because I don't know when I will see them again. I wouldn't blame them if they were not to return and can only thank them that I was not forgotten. My wife and Momma near the Wall for one final touch and so many years of indecision, fear and sorrow are let go. As they turn to leave I feel my tears form as if dew drops on the other side of the Wall. They slowly move away with only a glance over their shoulder. My son suddenly stops and slowly returns. He stands straight and proud in front of me and snaps a salute. Something makes him move to the Wall and he puts his hand upon the Wall and touches my tears that had formed on the face of the Wall and I can tell that he senses my presence there and the pride and the love that I have for him. He falls to his knees and the tears flow from his eyes and I try my best to reassure him that it's all right and the tears do not make him any less of a man.
As he moves back,& wipes the tears from his eyes, he silently mouths, God Bless you, Dad...
God Bless YOU, Son!
ATTN: ***PLEASE READ***
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is very excited about our National Call for Photos, which launched at a press event yesterday. We are gathering photos of the 58,261 people whose names are on The Wall for the Education Center. As you probably know, the Education Center is an underground learning facility being built on the National Mall. It will tell the stories of the people we lost in Vietnam and pay tribute to all who served in all of America's wars.
We are getting a lot of news coverage about our Call for Photos launch, which is vital to helping us get the word out. CNN has featured our story in a blog post, in addition to the stories it is broadcasting. Here's the link: http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/category/anchors/kyra-phillips/. The blog solicits comments, so we'd appreciate it if you would post a message of support.
YOU CAN GO TO THIS SITE ALSO TO LEARN MORE.
http://www.vvmfcenter.org/
