Sunday, May 24, 2020

Spare a Thought...



What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
 and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,
and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Psalm 8:4-5, KJV

Every year there are names that I recite in church the Sunday before Memorial Day. Men that I wish to remember and wish that my friends and family might also remember. I feel that if we can each remember the name of one who fell in the cause of freedom, then they might live in our hearts forever. Three were killed in action, three died in training, all fell for freedom.

Captain Carroll F. LeFon, Jr., United States Navy
Lance Corporal Kurt E. Dechen, United States Marine Corps
Major Taj Sareen, United States Marine Corps
Lieutenant Nathan T. Poloski, United States Navy
Private Robert Bain, Royal Scots Fusiliers, British Army
Private First Class Albert J. Dentino, United States Army

Enjoy the weekend, enjoy the time away from work with family and friends. Enjoy the unofficial start to the summer season. Those who fell would not begrudge you the good times, the laughter, the fun, for truly, if they could join in, you know they would.

But spare them a thought, even if it's just for a moment.

The men and women who fought and died for our freedoms should never be forgotten.

Ever.

My thanks to Dave (Fuzz) for sharing the following video with me, my old service did a good job with this.



The following is a program about one of the most hallowed places in our country, Arlington National Cemetery. It's an hour long, but well worth your time.

Have a box of tissues handy, you'll need them.

I did.



They shall grow not 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 morning 
We will remember them.

Remember...



44 comments:

  1. In my mind, when I hear Taps or the Star Spangled Banner, I see the scenes on Omaha Beach from "Saving Private Ryan". Those and all the others are never forgotten for I know what and who got us to here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The sun shining through the flag at the opening of that film still haunts me.

      As do the words, "Earn this." Something we should endeavor to do every day.

      Delete
    2. Same here. Saw the movie the first time in theater. Brought tissues. Shoulda brought more.

      Forecast here is 80% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow. May have to settle for cleaning guns.

      Delete
    3. Here's another good one. Film is "The Majestic".

      ...paid for in blood".

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrU-Sv3kpdI

      Delete
    4. Not a very good movie. But tastes vary.

      I used to be a Jim Carrey fan, not so much any more.

      Delete
  2. Aye Sarge, tomorrow morning the flags go out on the lawn early. It's a quiet time to reflect on those who gave their lives while in service. Good chance of rain here, Heaven will be weeping........

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  3. Private First Class Christopher S. Bryant USMC, KIA May 1968.

    There is a subset of Americans who have these folks in our families... their memories in our lives. People we have loved, people we miss. People who made a difference for the cause of Liberty.

    I'll hold some brass cases I policed up at your funeral Uncle Steve. May try and read some of your letters again this year. Look at your picture, dust off your service cover and remember you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had to chase that name down, found your Uncle here.

      We remember them, I shall remember him.

      Delete
    2. You made me cry out loud when you posted about him. I'll always remember that. And thank you again BTW. That was mighty nice of you.

      Delete
  4. My cousin,Lance Corporal Gary A. Holsclaw, died 02 July 1967 Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.

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  5. On this Memorial Day I again remember SSG Brian Craig US Army EOD. He died destroying munitions in Kandihar April 15, 2002.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. May his memory be a blessing, I will remember him.

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  6. Living here in Northern Virginia has given me the opportunity to easily walk Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. I particularly like visiting the older sections that most tourists don't go to, like Section 3 and Miles Drive where Walter Reed (yes, that one) and several other medical officers are buried. But not this year, as the cemetery is closed to all but family members.

    /
    L.J.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sad that it's closed. It is a peaceful place, a place to think and remember. I cherish my visits to Arlington. I feel like I'm among friends there.

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  7. Rest In Peace, Warriors! May we be deserving of your sacrifice...and may we preserve the freedom for which you made that sacrifice.

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  8. Those who fell would not begrudge you the good times.

    I'm glad you said that, because it has always felt weird to say "Happy" Memorial Day. Remembering of course, but celebrating has always made me feel a mute guilty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A mite guilty was the intent there before damn autocorrect.

      Delete
    2. I have never said "Happy" Memorial Day, nothing happy about it in my book. But you knew that.

      Delete
    3. Auto-correct is not your friend!

      Delete
    4. It's always been 'Memorial Day' and not needing 'Happy' added to it. Always thought that was kinda weird.

      Some days need to be solemn.

      Delete
  9. I've not lost people I've known in battle, nor lost family members to war since before the ACW-WoNA-WbtS. As far as I know. Too much family history has fallen by the wayside.

    Now, Veteran's Day? Oh, people all over both sides all the way back to Day 1 of my peeps.

    Unless I can count my maternal grandfather who died in harness from an office accident here in the States.

    But... ever since visiting the Arizona Memorial as a sprout, I've been quite cognizant of the ghosts of the fallen. And they are everywhere. At least to me. And I am aware of the fortune they have given us all by their sacrifice. I try to not let our hallowed dead down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That last sentence is really key, not to let them down...

      Delete
  10. Speaking of Arlington, I read this a while ago and I recommend it.
    https://www.amazon.com/Hallowed-Ground-Arlington-National-Cemetery-ebook/dp/B002WOD932/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19QKNOU1CMXK3&dchild=1&keywords=on+hallowed+ground+the+story+of+arlington+national+cemetery&qid=1590340824&sprefix=on+hall%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1

    I used the flag that covered my father's coffin (WWII 1941-1945) in my retirement shadow box. That flag will be used again when it's my time to go, and until then it has a place of honor in our home.

    Good and somber post, as is fitting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, flags. I have my great-uncle's flag, Mom has Dad's.

      Flags...

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    2. I have my dad's flag. It is mildly bitter sweet.

      My parents divorced when I was in 3rd grade. I didn't get to really know my dad until my college years, by which time he was long since re-married. They had one child, my half-brother. When my dad stood his final formation he was a widower, and it fell to my half-brother and I to handle arrangements. I had to travel to get there. At some point I casually asked "Where's the flag?".

      HB--Flag?

      Me--"Yeah, he's a veteran. That flag."

      HB-- "Oh, I didn't bother because that's not who he really was".

      I give myself credit for not clocking the prog SOB on the spot and 'splaining to him that that is exactly why there will be a fire-trucking flag.

      Have had no communication with the SOB since the funeral. My dad's flag will be passed on to his grand-kids.

      Delete
    3. Damn! What a completely clueless individual.

      Delete
  11. I think that Memorial Day has a very special meaning for those who have served. For me it will always be a special day of remembrance and mourning. It is not a day to celebrate, it is a day to observe. It is a day to reflect on the sacrifices of generations gone before and the price paid by friends and colleagues. The video on Arlington is beautiful and it catches what Arlington means in so many ways. Each time I am there I cannot help but to dwell on the fact that on those gentle hills there is, writ in stone, all that makes America great.

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  12. Hey AFSarge;

    We honor those of us that have served and are no longer here. We honor their memory. To me it is a measure of a civilization how they honor their dead, especially their soldiers and warriors, those that defended their civilization.

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  13. (Don McCollor)...in a little township cemetery in west central MN, there is the grave of an almost forgotten Civil War veteran - the neighbor and friend of my great-grandfather. Each Memorial Day, Dad would put a flag and a rose on his stone. When Dad died, the tradition fell on me. Not a tradition, but a sacred duty. I just pplaced the 29th flag there Saturday. Letting him know he is not forgotten...

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  14. It is criminal that some governors and mayors have decreed that there will be no placing of little flags on soldiers' graves and tombs, because I don't know other than like the SOB above, progressive bastards and not-ladies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A completely unlawful "order." These sumbitches need to face a reckoning. And soon.

      Delete
  15. I was doing fine watching that Arlington video, right up until that part with PFC Sam Huff giving her Sgt her final words to her parents. Kennedy's quote finished me off. Thanks for the post. Great video.

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    Replies
    1. That was a tough video to get through, but I learned a lot. Looking forward to my next visit to Arlington.

      Delete

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