Memorial Day
Memorial day is here.
How did I know this? Was it the little note on the calendar, or because I got a day off?
Was it the fact that my newspaper is 3 times the size it usually is because retailers feel the need to remind me I can save 10% on their products or get a mattress for low low prices?
Or maybe it is all the cars on the highway heading to whatever campground space is left open.
You can't really blame anybody for doing what most of us do with an extra day, try to have some fun, make the best of it. But even with a change in the commander in chief, and a glimmer of hope that the rest of the world might possibly not hate us quite so much, wars involving the U.S. military are ongoing half a world away. Every day Americans are still putting their lives on the line; and some of them are still giving their lives for our nation.
No, lets rephrase that - not giving their lives, their lives are being taken from them. Sure, most everyone signs on that dotted line to serve, it is after all, an all-volunteer service. But when National Guardsmen are doing their 4th tour overseas, it really goes above and beyond what most of them expected.
So during the holiday festivities this weekend, while burning some dogs or burgers and sipping that cold one, take a moment at 3 oclock in the afternoon. Use the time wisely, reflect on a lost buddy, say a kind word to that family you know who has a kid over there, or send out a silent wish for them all to come home.
How did I know this? Was it the little note on the calendar, or because I got a day off?
Was it the fact that my newspaper is 3 times the size it usually is because retailers feel the need to remind me I can save 10% on their products or get a mattress for low low prices?
Or maybe it is all the cars on the highway heading to whatever campground space is left open.
You can't really blame anybody for doing what most of us do with an extra day, try to have some fun, make the best of it. But even with a change in the commander in chief, and a glimmer of hope that the rest of the world might possibly not hate us quite so much, wars involving the U.S. military are ongoing half a world away. Every day Americans are still putting their lives on the line; and some of them are still giving their lives for our nation.
No, lets rephrase that - not giving their lives, their lives are being taken from them. Sure, most everyone signs on that dotted line to serve, it is after all, an all-volunteer service. But when National Guardsmen are doing their 4th tour overseas, it really goes above and beyond what most of them expected.
So during the holiday festivities this weekend, while burning some dogs or burgers and sipping that cold one, take a moment at 3 oclock in the afternoon. Use the time wisely, reflect on a lost buddy, say a kind word to that family you know who has a kid over there, or send out a silent wish for them all to come home.
thanks chris well said
ReplyDeletedifferent note
i am gonna send you a link with the video (so you can download) from my work email
I didn't start crying until they showed the folks kissing the coffins. Then I uttered the silent prayer, "Please, God, not Chris." (My brother who's in the USAF.) Not right, maybe. Why someone else's brother and not mine? And he's not over there full time, but he makes a lot of trips. But he's the light of his son's life and even though we all love Chris and he knows we're proud of him, we all hope that he keeps coming home for that little boy's sake.
ReplyDeletethat was absolutely incredible.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making me cry. you bastard.
(xoxox)
Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThat was really good.
ReplyDeleteThanks to you, and all our vets, SD!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until our men and women are back home... for good.
ReplyDeleteVery good, Chris. I'm so glad that we are getting it right this time. The way US troops were treated when they returned from Vietnam was shameful. It was an unpopular war but that was not the soldiers' fault.
ReplyDelete