Now I know that things are different than they were in Daddy's days
But I still believe what makes a man really hasn't changed
— Aaron Tippin
"You've Got To Stand For Something"
I woke up this Memorial Day morning thinking about 2 of my best friends, gone now. Both came back from Vietnam changed, some ways for the better, some ways for the worse. But Vietnam was the defining event of their lives. They were both men of honor, and at some core DNA level they believed in the United States as the greatest country on earth...a country worth sacrificing their you, worth dying for if necessary.
I honor their service and their lives, as I do the service, the lives — and the sacrifices — of all our Armed Forces, the men and women who guarantee our freedom.
And we as a country have failed them at a level that a few years ago I would have thought impossible.
Read this Memorial Day piece from Roger Simon...for those of us of a certain age, it's worth thinking about.
Thanks for the link, an article I can relate to, only ten years later. How I wish at this point in my life that I had served. I have three sons, one that has served and two that are currently. As a proud father I thank all those who have served and especially those that made the ultimate sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteWell I did serve - Navy 1969 - 1975. I CHOOSE to and am still glad I did my duty as a citizen. No need for thanks - I got none when home and only now almost 40 years later have begun to appreciate thanks for my service. I am MORE appreciative of all the men that have served and gave me the opportunity to serve. They made my kids and grandkids free - Praise God for each of them!
ReplyDeleteWell I did serve - Navy 1969 - 1975. I CHOOSE to and am still glad I did my duty as a citizen. No need for thanks - I got none when home and only now almost 40 years later have begun to appreciate thanks for my service. I am MORE appreciative of all the men that have served and gave me the opportunity to serve. They made my kids and grandkids free - Praise God for each of them!
ReplyDelete"Freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness."
ReplyDeleteThat is the inscription on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Revolutionary War in Washington Square in Philadelphia. Located across the street from the old Walnut Street Prison, used by the British to imprison Colonial American patriots being held as prisoners of war, the square was used as a burying ground as the Americans died of sickness and starvation while being held prisoner by the British. The men's bodies were buried in long trenches that the British forced the American prisoners to dig. In unmarked graves beneath the square lie the remains of at least 3,000 of General Washington's soldiers. One of those bodies was selected to be re-interred in the official Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolutionary War (Arlington is only Civil War onward).
It is impossible to walk through Washington Square in Philadelphia, see that Tomb, read the plaques and monuments, and ever again hold the British royal family in anything but absolute contempt.
Everyone thinks of Arlington. No one remembers where our freedom started.
Anyone who professes to be an American patriot, anyone who claims to care about freedom, you really have a moral obligation to do two things: 1. Read the autobiography of Joseph Plumb Martin (the only autobiography of a Colonial American enlisted man who served in Washington's army during the Revolutionary War) and 2. Go to Washington Square in Philadelphia and stand on that hallowed ground. Think of those THREE THOUSAND men, those genuine, original patriotic Americans who were willing to risk reputation, fortune, and their very lives for the freedom that today YOU enjoy. Stand there, over top their bones, and think about what those men did for you. Their dying weeks and days and moments were composed of starving to death at the hands of the British jailers. Think about that. And never fucking forget what those brave patriotic American soldiers did for YOU.
Never forgive. Never forget.
It is just right to give honor to these great man and women of our country. Let's take a moment to commemorate all their great deeds that put us where we are now.
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