Pages

▼

Praetorium Honoris

▼

Friday, May 24, 2019

For Those Who Didn't Come Home...

American flags placed by soldiers participating in "Flags In" stand in front of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., May 24, 2018.
DoD photo by Sebastian J. Sciotti Jr.
You may have noticed that there is a theme for this week.

This time of year seems to get harder and harder as I get older.

Maybe I'm just a maudlin old man, but I feel the loss each and every day, not just Memorial Day.

Ave atque vale...






at

32 comments:

  1. SCOTTtheBADGERMay 24, 2019 at 4:29 AM

    You are doing what is to be done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. a bearMay 24, 2019 at 4:39 AM

    If you haven’t seen it yet, “They Shall Not Grow Old” finally showed up on Amazon for people (like me) who couldn’t see it in theaters.

    The parts that hurt the most, for me, maybe weren’t the things you’d expect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OldAFSargeMay 24, 2019 at 5:02 AM

      I look forward to seeing that.

      Delete
    2. SCOTTtheBADGERMay 24, 2019 at 11:29 PM

      I bought my copy! That was the most amazing movie I have ever been too. For 90 minutes, the theater was dead silent, not even the sound of munching popcorn. The audience was rapt. You will enjoy that movie immensely, Chris!

      Delete
    3. Dave's Daily Day DreamMay 25, 2019 at 10:01 AM

      On the watch list for tomorrow after Church. Seems like a very good movie to watch this week-end. More heroes to remember, adding to the dozen or so already gone from my life.

      Delete
    4. OldAFSargeMay 25, 2019 at 12:17 PM

      Scott - Will do.

      Delete
    5. OldAFSargeMay 25, 2019 at 12:17 PM

      Dave - That is a good one for this weekend.

      Delete
  3. SuzMay 24, 2019 at 4:40 AM

    That is just simply beautiful.

    Thank you for being a "maudlin old man."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nylon12May 24, 2019 at 4:54 AM

    Awfully dusty in here Sarge.......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OldAFSargeMay 24, 2019 at 5:03 AM

      A tough one to put together, allergies were really acting up.

      Delete
  5. STxARMay 24, 2019 at 5:14 AM

    I wonder if the fabric of our life is like a blanket... a nice thick blanket. The folks we meet, our family, people we read about that we admire and respect all make up a thread or three of the blanket. Then, as time unrolls, they leave, and the blanket gets thinner. Those who leave in the course of protecting and serving their buddies, their families and their countries.... who died extending the hand of Liberty to the enslaved, are thick threads and are woven deeply into the fabric of those who are of like mind. Their loss, then, is a great loss. And we feel it.... more than most.

    To remember and miss those great ones, is to honor them. And boy, is it dusty in here...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John in PhillyMay 24, 2019 at 5:32 AM

      STxAR. Wonderfully written, and a beautiful mental image.
      And the pollen is thick.

      Delete
    2. OldAFSargeMay 24, 2019 at 6:13 AM

      STxAR - Well said.

      Delete
    3. OldAFSargeMay 24, 2019 at 6:13 AM

      John - Very thick.

      Delete
    4. STxARMay 24, 2019 at 5:11 PM

      Thanks for the kind words gentlemen. I appreciate that.

      Delete
    5. OldAFSargeMay 24, 2019 at 5:50 PM

      I need to remember what you have written. Powerful words indeed.

      Delete
    6. TunaMay 24, 2019 at 9:00 PM

      I really liked that Star. Nice sentiment.

      Delete
    7. OldAFSargeMay 25, 2019 at 10:11 AM

      Indeed.

      Delete
  6. (not necessarily your) Uncle SkipMay 24, 2019 at 6:09 AM

    Even with all of the rain it’s difficult to keep the dust down.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MrGarabaldiMay 24, 2019 at 6:15 AM

    Hey AFSarge;

    Part of the thing is that as we get older, we start to relate more to those that will never grow old, almost like "Survivor's guilt". The older I get I see I see my Army friends die off to various aliments or suicide and you wonder...."Why You..and not them?" I wonder that sometimes...what makes me better than my friends that I survive and they don't. Funny conundrum I suppose. All I can do is leave it to the big guy upstairs that he ain't done with me yet. Yeah I miss my friends and one day we will meet again in Fiddlers green or Valhalla or wherever we end up. Sorry for the deep discussion.....I am working through my first cup of coffee, LOL

    ReplyDelete
  8. BeansMay 24, 2019 at 9:15 AM

    I find it very enlightening and wonderful that President Trump and First Lady Melania snuck out to Arlington to help plant some flags, as they will be in Japan during the actual Memorial Day. And they made no big deal, to the media, about it.

    We finally have a president who gets 'it' for a large value of 'it.'



    As to Memorial Day, for those who never came back, physically or mentally, I, too, find myself thinking about them more and more. And Mr. Garabaldi, I think, gets the reason why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OldAFSargeMay 24, 2019 at 9:17 AM

      I saw that about the President and First Lady, they understand that is isn't about them.

      Delete
  9. Paul L. QuandtMay 24, 2019 at 12:56 PM

    As is becoming increasingly normal, I arrive here late and find that everyone else has written everything I have to write on your post. I can but echo what they wrote. And a wonderful job they did of it.

    Thanks for the post.
    Paul L. Quandt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OldAFSargeMay 24, 2019 at 1:22 PM

      Thanks Paul.

      Delete
    2. TunaMay 24, 2019 at 9:16 PM

      I feel that way often myself, probably because I don't always get to the blog until late evening.

      Delete
    3. OldAFSargeMay 25, 2019 at 6:32 AM

      Understood. Get here when you can, the door's always open.

      Delete
  10. TunaMay 24, 2019 at 9:24 PM

    Sarge, I've watched several of these videos this week and everyone of them gets me all dusty.

    ReplyDelete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

NOTE: Comments on posts over 5 days old go into moderation, automatically.