Just to remind:
We didn't go to war to conquer,
we went to war to free people from evil
because we loved them.
Don't forget to say thank you
to the ones who sacrificed their own lives
because they loved us
and wanted us to be free from evil.



THANK YOU!!!



Suz

well said that lady.

thank you and God bless.

Thank you Suz...very true


The author is Joe De Cree, a retired Special Forces officer.

MEMORIAL DAY
The rain drips off the peak of my cap;
Speckles my vision.
The marching band plays in G Major but I hear only minor chords.
Old Glory passes by and I make the automatic but heartfelt salute.
I attend the ball games and barbeques
But I am not really there.
I want to leave so as not to bring down the party.
I am remembering. Remembering and feeling.
As I visit flag adorned graves I drift to other days.
The older I get the more keenly I feel the sting that is Memorial Day.
The parade of faces and names begins again: Ox, Moge, Vaughn, Chief, and the rest.
All good men. All gone. All cut down violently.
Civilians cannot understand.
I go off by myself. In my mind we prep for another patrol.
We kit up. We check comms. We return to that lethal headspace that our families suspect but don’t know.
I get the thumbs up from the team and we walk the walk again.
The enemy tries to surprise but we are too fast, too practiced.
Rifle fire, butt stroke, knofe blades flashing, lethal hand strikes. We play that symphony again.
We sweep through.
I check my men. Ox, moge, Vaughn, Chief. We are all here. They are fine.
Consolidate, prepare to repell, call it in. We are victorious because the only realy victory is living through it with your brothers. Else is failure.
Politicians and civilians think otherwise.
Lord Forgive them their ignorance. We die that they may keep it.
Academics pose irrelevant questions about the good men on the other side. They too have family.
I care not a whit. I neither mourn their losses nor revel in their death. Their death that is my fault.
What do academics know of death, life, and brotherhood? Such things are not in books. They are in gunfire.
I see my brothers thru the smokey veil now. I try to walk through but cannot.
They go back to their patrol base and disappear back into the rain as Old Glory passes by.
I smile the grim and sardonic smile of every grunt.
I have been left behind again. They go forward.
I will see them again next year.
Taps sounds. I am asked if I want another hot dog and which game I want to watch.
The meat is tasteless. I mechanically watch the game. The centerfielder is good.
Chief liked baseball, I recall.
Memorial Day-thank God it only comes once a year.

Well said, but I am unsure that I believe that anymore. I believe and honor the heroic and selfless service people and their willingness to sacrifice their lives, I honor those men and women who have offered themselves up for their country and an ideal. But. as far as why we go to war I have come to believe it has more to do with corporations and profits, and re-elections than truly helping free a people. IMHO, but then I'm just an angry old fart.

Lost too many friends in viet nam. I'll stay out of this.

Bushy, yep.

I think the point is to honour our fallen and wounded soldiers. Maybe the reason for the war is inconsequential and political and economic and maybe those reasons are dubious.

Without them, and without our ideals worth fighting for, what country would you rather be in? It's not a time to be politically correct (cause there isn't such a thing) it's time to honour our fallen and wounded soldiers, so lift up your suspenders and grab a flag there's graves to decorate.


Suz
sheeesh

Suzanne your point entirely, never meant to take anything away from it. If you thought I did I apologize. Your insight is the bomb, and keep it up. Sometimes I just get so angry at what our governments use these wonderful people for I cannot help myself. Using people who believe in truth, justice, and freedom and are willing to give the ultimate sacrifice towards that end, but are used for mercurial, or even baser purposes disgusts me. Politician's need to man the front lines if they want war.

Thanks Lester, and at least we're not as disposable and only counted as numbers on a critical expenditures list such as the dictatorial regimes. Something in Vinnie's Joe DeCree prose struck me (thanks Vince!);

Consolidate, prepare to repell, call it in. We are victorious because the only real victory is living through it with your brothers. Else is failure.
Politicians and civilians think otherwise.
Lord Forgive them their ignorance. We die that they may keep it.

We live in an amazing place
Suz