In Memory of our Honored Dead Memorial Day 2009

[Steel Talon]

I will never forget my fallen brothers.
ST~

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh239/SteelTalon01/tomb-unknown-soldier-picture.jpg

Eternal God,
Creator of years, of centuries,
Lord of whatever is beyond time,
Maker of all species and master of all history --
How shall we speak to you
from our smallness and inconsequence?
Except that you have called us to worship you
in spirit and in truth;
You have dignified us with loves and loyalties;
You have lifted us up with your lovingkindnesses.
Therefore we are bold to come before you without groveling
[though we sometimes feel that low]
and without fear
[though we are often anxious].
We sing with spirit and pray with courage
because you have dignified us;
You have redeemed us from the aimlessness
of things' going meaninglessly well.
God, lift the hearts of those
for whom this holiday is not just diversion,
but painful memory and continued deprivation.
Bless those whose dear ones have died
needlessly, wastefully [as it seems]
in accident or misadventure.
We remember with compassion those who have died
serving their countries
in the futility of combat.
There is none of us but must come to bereavement and separation,
when all the answers we are offered
fail the question death asks of each of us.
We believe that you will provide for us
as others have been provided with the fulfillment of
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

[jawjaboy]

GLORY.
.

[MakeMineaP99]

:patriot:

[AlPackin]

:patriot:

[TwoShot]

AMEN :patriot:

[Pitmaster]

:patriot::patriot::patriot:

Be safe driving out there this weekend.

[Jayhawker]

:patriot::patriot::patriot::patriot::patriot::patr iot::patriot:
Some gave all. Thank you.

[mbradst]

Thank you to all that have served and all that continue to serve. I think many of us need to remember that we should be thankful for those that have sacrificed so much for us more than just a few days a year. If you know someone is a Veteran, let them know how much you appreciate their service to our country every now and then, you don't have to wait for the 4th of July or Memorial Day.

[BoltNut]

Thank you to all that have served and all that continue to serve. I think many of us need to remember that we should be thankful for those that have sacrificed so much for us more than just a few days a year. If you know someone is a Veteran, let them know how much you appreciate their service to our country every now and then, you don't have to wait for the 4th of July or Memorial Day.
+1 :patriot:

BTW, my mom and dad are heading up to the U.P. for my uncle's memorial service this weekend...basically a mini-family-reunion in the north woods! :) He's the one I wrote about a few months back. Here is his little bio from the funeral home.

http://www.jacobsfuneralhomes.com/obits/obituaries.php/obitID/784417 (http://www.jacobsfuneralhomes.com/obits/obituaries.php/obitID/784417)

He was my living hero as I was growing up! :yesnod:

I miss him a great deal already. :(

[creophus]

Have a safe memorial day. Thanks to all those who served.

[TwoShot]

+1 :patriot:

BTW, my mom and dad are heading up to the U.P. for my uncle's memorial service this weekend...basically a mini-family-reunion in the north woods! :) He's the one I wrote about a few months back. Here is his little bio from the funeral home.

http://www.jacobsfuneralhomes.com/obits/obituaries.php/obitID/784417 (http://www.jacobsfuneralhomes.com/obits/obituaries.php/obitID/784417)

He was my living hero as I was growing up! :yesnod:

I miss him a great deal already. :(

A candle has been lit for him by a fellow vet.
Thanks for serving my friend.:patriot:

[cohutt]

Thank you SteelTalon
Thank you JOE L.

I sent this to my family and inlaws a minute ago- hopefully worth of a post here in your honor:

There are 4,320 minutes in the Memorial day weekend. Spending 3 1/2 of them "on topic" isn't too much for us to do, is it?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxcVNyVlcks

Thank a veteran for putting it all on the line.


(Thank you, David)
(Thank you, Clyde)
Bruce


Ronald Reagan, Vietnam Memorial, Veterans Day 1988 transcript (yeah i know it is memorial day weekend, this speaks as good as anything I ever seen, espescially today. BH)

"Before I begin, let me take a moment to congratulate the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the other distinguished guests without whom the construction and operation of this memorial would not have been possible. Let me also say that ......."
(see next post...)

[cohutt]

Transcript, Ronald Reagan, Vietnam Memorial, Veterans Day 1988 (yeah i know it is memorial day weekend, this speaks as good as anything I ever seen, especially these days. BH)

Before I begin, let me take a moment to congratulate the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the other distinguished guests without whom the construction and operation of this memorial would not have been possible. Let me also say that America is grateful to the hundreds of Vietnam veterans who, when I asked them to join my Administration, did so, and have and are serving our nation so proudly. For your devotion to America, I salute you.
We're gathered today, just as we have gathered before, to remember those who served, those who fought, and those who -- those still missing, and those who gave their last full measure of devotion for our country. We're gathered at a monument on which the names of our fallen friends and loved ones are engraved, and with crosses instead of diamonds beside them, the names of those whose fate we do not yet know. One of those who fell wrote, shortly before his death, these words: "Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own. And take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind."
Well, today, Veterans Day (http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/faq/vetsday/vetshist.htm), as we do every year, we take that moment to embrace the gentle heroes of Vietnam and of all our wars. We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause.
I'm not speaking provocatively here. Unlike the other wars of this century, of course, there were deep divisions about the wisdom and rightness of the Vietnam war. Both sides spoke with honesty and fervor. And what more can we ask in our democracy? And yet after more than a decade of desperate boat people, after the killing fields of Cambodia, after all that has happened in that unhappy part of the world, who can doubt that the cause for which our men fought was just? It was, after all, however imperfectly pursued, the cause of freedom; and they showed uncommon courage in its service. Perhaps at this late date we can all agree that we've learned one lesson: that young Americans must never again be sent to fight and die unless we are prepared to let them win.
But -- But -- But beyond that, we remember today that all our gentle heroes of Vietnam have given us a lesson in something more: a lesson in living love. Yes, for all of them, those who came back and those who did not, their love for their families lives. Their love for their buddies on the battlefields and friends back home lives. Their love of their country lives.
This memorial has become a monument to that living love. The thousands who come to see the names testify to a love that endures. The messages and mementos they leave speak with a whispering voice that passes gently through the surrounding trees and to out across the breast of our peaceful nation: a childhood teddy bear, a photograph of the son or daughter born too late to know his or her father, a battle ribbon, a note -- there are so many of these, and all are testimony to our living love for them. And our nation itself is testimony to the love our veterans have had for it and for us. Our liberties, our values, all for which America stands is safe today because brave men and women have been ready to face the fire at freedom's front. And we thank God for them.
Yes, gentle heroes and living love and our memories of a time when we faced great divisions here at home. And yet if this place recalls all this, both sweet and sad, it also reminds us of a great and profound truth about our nation: that from all our divisions we have always eventually emerged strengthened. Perhaps we are finding that new strength today, and if so, much of it comes from the forgiveness and healing love that our Vietnam veterans have shown.
For too long a time, they stood in a chill wind, as if on a winter night's watch. And in that night, their deeds spoke to us, but we knew them not. And their voices called to us, but we heard them not. Yet in this land that God has blessed, the dawn always at last follows the dark, and now morning has come. The night is over. We see these men and know them once again -- and know how much we owe them, how much they've given us, and how much we can never fully repay. And not just as individuals but as a nation, we say we love you.
These -- These days, we show our love in many ways -- some of it through the Government. We now fly the POW - MIA flag at this memorial on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and POW - MIA Recognition Day. This is a small gesture, but a significant one. America also keeps a vigil for those who have not yet returned. We have negotiated with the Vietnamese to bring our nation's sons home, and for the first time to have joint teams investigating remote areas of Vietnam that might shed light on the fate of those we list as missing. In Laos, we have also begun a new round of surveys and excavations of crash sites. And we have told Hanoi that it must prove to the American people through its cooperation whether men are still being held against their will in Indochina. Otherwise we will assume some are, and we will do everything we can to find them.
Here at home, a new Department of Veterans Affairs (http://www.va.gov/) and extended veterans benefits are merely outward and visible signs of an inward and invisible grace that has come to our land. Vietnam service is once more universally recognized as a badge of pride. Four years ago, I noted that this healing had begun and that I hoped that before my days as Commander in Chief were over it would be completed. Well, now as I approach the end of my service and I see Vietnam veterans take their rightful place among America's heroes, it appears to me that we have healed. And what can I say to our Vietnam veterans but: Welcome home.

Now before I go, as have so many others, Nancy and I wanted to leave a note at the wall. And if I may read it to you before doing so, we will put this note here before we leave:


"Our young friends -- yes, young friends, for in our hearts you will always be young, full of the love that is youth, love of life, love of joy, love of country -- you fought for your country and for its safety and for the freedom of others with strength and courage. We love you for it. We honor you. And we have faith that, as He does all His sacred children, the Lord will bless you and keep you, the Lord will make His face to shine upon you and give you peace, now and forever more."

[BoltNut]

...AMEN..thanks to every young man and woman who puts their life in the path of oppression, tyrany and the loss of our freedoms...:patriot:

...btw, thanks for the kind words and sentiments, TWOSHOT!... :Angel_anim:

[Steve Koski]

Have a safe memorial day. Thanks to all those who served.
Amen!!!

[Direwolf]

Amen.