Memorial Day 2008

Today is Memorial Day.

Let us take the time to remember the fallen--those who have given their lives so that we the we the living may enjoy a free and open society.

In memory of L/Cpl Dennis James Kane, USMC.

www.usmemorialday.org...

In Flanders Fields

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.

www.usmemorialday.org...

[edit on 2008/5/26 by GradyPhilpott]

being a canadian do pay the respect of the dead in the united states and the allies they help over seas of fighting war on terrorism and also the
the wouned and the loves one they left behind and the people who come back from overseas and enjoy there freedom and pride and same with my country canada and other who also enjoy there own freedom

Happy Memorial Day to all the veterans out there and those still serving.

I'd like to pay tribute to a local Cincinnati, OH soldier killed in Iraq.

United States Army Private First Class Matt Maupin, who's body was just flown home at the end of April, who's memorial was held at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, OH.

On April 9, 2004, Maupin's fuel convoy came under attack near the Baghdad International Airport. In what was described as a 5-mile (8.0 km)-long ambush, the 26-vehicle serial was pummeled by gunfire, mortar rounds and RPGs, disabling many of the civilian fuel tankers and Army vehicles. After the remnants of the convoy reached safe ground it was learned that around ten soldiers and civilian KBR contractors were wounded, while one soldier, SPC Gregory Goodrich, and a civilian driver had been killed in the battle. PFC Maupin was among the nine people unaccounted for – seven civilians and two soldiers. One of the missing civilian drivers, Thomas Hamill, had been taken hostage during the ambush and escaped his captors on May 2, 2004. The bodies of five other civilians and the second soldier were subsequently recovered; all are thought to have been killed in the ambush. Civilian driver Timothy Bell remains missing and is presumed dead, since he never appeared in a hostage video.

On April 16, 2004, Maupin appeared on a videotape that was broadcast by the Arabic-language television network Al Jazeera. The tape, reportedly delivered to the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, raised hopes that Maupin was still alive. In the video, the soldier identified himself as "Private First Class Keith Matthew Maupin", a standard procedure followed by prisoners of war that protects their rights under the Third Geneva Convention.

His family is an extremely close knit family and my heart went out to them as they waited years for Matt to be found. Which he was on March 30, 2008.

A testament to this family, their courage and belief in their country was never more evident then when Matt Maupin's brother, 23-year-old Sgt. Kent Micah Maupin, re-enlisted in the Marines on the four-year anniversary of his older brother's capture in Iraq while his parents shared the stage with him as he took the oath to serve his country once again.

www.wlwt.com...

It's families and servicemen/women like these that make me proud to be an American on Memorial Day.

Thanks for starting this noble thread GradyPhilpot

[edit on 26-5-2008 by LateApexer313]

Yeah, honor the fallen soldiers by closing all soup kitchens and starving the ones who survived. Makes a lot of bloody sense to me.

Frustrated and hungry vet in Portland, OR

What about the ones who didn't ask...or volunteer?

[edit on 26-5-2008 by MemoryShock]

MemoryShock

I'm not quite sure what you mean or why you have to post such a cryptic post to such a simple thread.

On Memorial Day, we honor the sacrifice of those who died serving their country.

We don't discriminate between those who volunteered and those who simply answered the call of duty when the draft notice arrived.

It's a simple concept and I cannot for the life of me understand why you can't simply post a polite, respectful response or pass by this thread, instead of interjecting your selfish politics into the issue.

Have you no shame?

[edit on 2008/5/26 by GradyPhilpott]

reply to post by GradyPhilpott


I respect those who have fallen. But are they not (some of them) manipulated?

Originally posted by MemoryShock
I respect those who have fallen.

Then, why are you derailing this thread?

A moving tribute:



Can you get through it without tears?

Originally posted by intrepid
Can you get through it without tears?

No.

Here's the story behind the song.

Thanks, intrepid.

www.army.forces.gc.ca...


[edit on 2008/5/27 by GradyPhilpott]

Thanks for the thread Grady.

If I may...


In memory of my Airborne brothers





All The Way
De Oppresso Libre





[edit on 5/26/08 by makeitso]

Just stopping in to show my respect to those fallen in battle, and all those still serving the masters over seas right now!

You have my thoughts, and best wishes..

Happy Memorial Day 2008!

Zy5

I can only hope things improve, and those that have given their lives did not die in vain.. I will do my part to make this place a better world to live in. And not for the masters of the USA.. But for those of us who are still slaves, and feel as if their is no hope.. There is always hope!

When I think of all the dedicated, idealistic and brave individuals who have sacrificed their lives to keep this country free it overwhelms me. Think of what could have been accomplished - personally and nationally - by those people if they had lived to return home. We have an obligation to make sure their deaths were not in vain. We can do this by holding on to our liberty tightly, by refusing tyranny across the globe - and at home.

It also shames me to a degree because I know not everyone is this country, or the world, understands the vast numbers involved or the extent that their families have suffered as well. We have a further obligation to take care of the families left behind as well as our returning troops. I am grateful to Jim Webb for his support of the revised G.I. bill so that those miltary service people who are fortunate to make it home can have the opportunity they deserve to better themselves and take care of their families.

I know that the hearts of the countless military service men and women who have died for this country have been true and that mostly our cause has been just, but it is up to every citizen to hold our leaders accountable for their actions when it puts our troops in harms way. I am doing everything I can to make sure that we have no more endless war. No more war for oil. No more war without honor for our country.

America is a great nation but it's strength lies in its people, not its government. We have lost a lot of people to war. We have to make sure our govenment is justified, accountable and worthy of the sacrifice so many have made.

[edit on 26/5/08 by kosmicjack]

In Memoriam:


MARK OWEN CHARETTE - SGT - USA
101st Airborne Division
Apr 6, 1968
QUANG TRI, SOUTH VIETNAM


JAMES ARTHUR JACKSON - LCPL -USMC
Nov 11, 1969
QUANG NAM, SOUTH VIETNAM


RICHARD HERSHEL MILLER - PFC -USA
Feb 2, 1970
In QUANG TIN, SOUTH VIETNAM


You are gone but never forgotten.

"Young smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go"

SGT. R.J. Michelle
LCPL. Dan Liefson
MSGT. Roy "gonzo" Gonzales
SGT. Phillip Rodriquez
CPL. Jose Sanchez
SGT. Jimmie C. Scrogum

224 years of romping, stomping, ass-kicking, name-taking, hell, death and destruction. The finest fighting machine the world has ever seen. We were born in a smoldering bomb crater and breast-fed napalm. Our mother was an M-16 and our father was the devil himself. Each moment that we live is an additional threat upon your life. I'm a roughish-looking, roving, bloodthirsty soldier of the sea. I am cocky, self-centered, overbearing, and I do not know the meaning of fear, for I am fear itself. I am a green, amphibious monster made of blood and guts that arose from the sea, feasting on anti-Americans throughout the globe. Whenever it may arise, and when my time comes, I will die a glorious death on the battlefield, giving my life to mom, the Corps, and the American flag. We stole the eagle from the Air Force, the anchor from the Navy, and the rope from the Army. On the 7th day, while God rested, we over-ran his perimeter and stole the globe, and we've been running the show ever since. We live like soldiers, talk like sailors, and slap the hell out of both of them. Warrior by day, lover by night, drunkard by choice, Marine by the grace of God.

ALWAYS REMEMBERED AND NEVER FORGOTTEN
MARINES
ARMY
AIR FORCE
NAVY
COAST GUARD
OORAH!
SEMPER FI DO OR DIE


[edit on 26-5-2008 by USMC-oorah]

reply to post by GradyPhilpott


Hey thanks for this thread and for the meaning of the song posted. Sad that he wouldn't show the respect though. Sadly that Happens everyday.

I am posting in honor of my father, Louis E Meyer, Senior Master Seargent USAF , he retired 100% disabled and died in 1984. He made being in the air force a career, and supported his family and country with everything he had. Served in WII, the Korean Conflict and Veitnam.

I salute you dad, along with those before you and those after you, and those to come.

I will take the chance to pay my respects to US service personal who have fallen in battle along side there allies . It astounds that twenty four million people can mark Anzac day with out bringing politicizing the day of remembrance and yet many Americans can not do the same .

An historical question if I may .
Are those who fought and died for the South during the civil war also remembered on Memorial Day ?

They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the evening
we will remember them."

Source

Recording of The Last Post

Really there isnt much else I can say other then Lest We Forgot .

[edit on 27-5-2008 by xpert11]

[edit on 27-5-2008 by xpert11]

Grady;

Once again you have reminded all of us what it means to be free. Thanks to all veterans, both still alive and those deceased. And Thank you Grady for your service in the past as well as now.