Folks Of Interest Take them for a ride in your Hot Rod,.... (Memorial Day)

I lost my pops a few years ago. We always enjoyed having a drink together. He loved scotch. I visit him often and always bring one on the rocks.

Thanks for your Thread. Thanks for your service.

 

With a lump in my throat; I must wish my "neighbours a great Memorial Day". As a small boy my mother took me to every Rememberance Day service to pay respect to all those who gave to our freedom and to never take it for granted! To this day I have my moment of silence even if I stand alone. I also send my U.S. friends a note on Memorial Day. Most recently I gained a new friend from San Luis Obispo during a small renovation project in AZ. He spent time in Vietnam as a young man and shared with me a few stories and how grateful he was to make it home in one piece since some of his closest mates did not. He is truly one of the most modest and cool cats I have ever met. So to Ron and his comrades; CHEERS!

 

Took my Dad to many car shows and Sunday drives in my 1939 Ford Coupe - he remembered them when brand new - he was in the Navy on a Destroyer Escort from 1942 to 1945 in the Pacific - saw many battles and saw many deaths - did not talk about it much and went on with his life like the rest of the "Greatest Generation ... he used to sit next to the car because he was a bit too old to walk comfortably - most everyone who came up to see the car thought he was the original owner! He passed on 2 years ago at 91. I cherish those rides we had together.

 

I treasure my remark to my grandson who asked, "Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?" Grandpa said, "No... but I served in a company of heroes".



Just a humble bump, From me,... to All our Nations Hero's ! We WILL remember you !........... "Lest we Forget".

 

In all this we must not forget the wives, girlfriends, mothers, families etc... that from home kept us going. I didn't realize how much they suffered till I came home. In one letter to me my GF stated that we had managed to communicate by every possible method other than a telegram. So one day while on R&R spotted a Western Union office and sent her a quick (love you am fine) telegram. She and her college room mate sat on her bed crying for a few hours afraid to open it. Clueless on my end that she could only think that yellow envelope meant I wasn't coming home. Our women knew that little fact and dreaded those envelopes. Don't believe she ever forgave me for that. Believe me her next letter to me wasn't the least bit warm or fuzzy. And it came up a few times later. So as we take a moment today to remember our fallen brothers and sisters I will take a moment to thank the women in my life and recognize that not knowing is just as frightening as knowing, maybe worse.

 

Thank you, Zapato, for your service. Good point about the families. Also let's remember the MIAs, POWs and their families who never get closure.
Chuck

 

outstanding post!


This post was a bit emotional for me on several levels. It seems we loose a veteran every month here, and another was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this week. He is 64 yo Vietnam vet with 3 purple harts from 2 tours and might not come home from the hospital.

I spent at least 20 hours this weekend doing fundraisers to help our veterans.

I can tell you for a fact, a lot of people just don't get it.

Thank You

 

Thank you and to all that are a nd served. I passed this onto friends and family.
God Bless

 

Zapato,.... Very good point, To truly honor those lost,... if you know a family that hase lost a love one,.. do what you can to help them out. Be a son to the parents,.. a Brother to the wife's,.... and especially a special uncle to the children,... These were there prized possessions,... lets all try to take care of them.

 

As a living Vet, it is my Honor to have a toast to all the Veterans who did not return from their battles. and as of reading the "Keeper of the Bottle" I will start a new tradition with my family, and friends. Thank you for the story, and , your welcome, from a Vet.

 

Indeed. your quotes from mr.winters did not come out, but, very much, YES. Indeed.

 

Some times I think about the young guys that stayed behind God we were so young had so much to live for. The older I get the more I think about them

 

To all those who have served,are serving now and to those who will serve in the future.God bless you all.Thanks.
Leo

 

A humble and respectful bump, to honor those that deserve our unending gratitude.

Lest we forget
​

 

Thank you Harms Way. That was very well written and thought provoking.

A lot of us have those friends that never came home.

 

Thank you to all who have served and are serving now. I will not forget what you have sacraficed for me and my family.

 

Just another WOW. Very heart wrenching! Thank you, Thank you and Thank you. Hope some day the GREAT USA that you all fought for returns to it's greatness once again.

 

Although this is dedicated to all of those that have given the supreme sacrifice in defense of our Nation,.. My personal thoughts are with the men of the 6th.Inf., 63 Reg.
And 3rd. MarDiv., 3rd.Force Recon Co......

"Mabuhay"

 

Harms Way - that is a fantastic story, God Bless all those who have paid the ultimate price for serving their country.

Let We Forget.

Rat

 

Thank you for posting. Remembering and giving thanks to our HEROS

 

This tough Lil' Marine knows exactly what this day is all about, And who it is meant to honor. Considering at his tender age he understands all too well the significance of Memorial Day,... I urge you all to let the kids know, tell them what today is all about. A prayer of thanks and comfort for loved ones left behind might just be in order as well...... IMHO

 

I've been to war and I was fortunate to come back. For me every day is Memorial Day.

 

It was a sunny spring morning just before Memorial day, I stopped in to the local grocery store to pick up some items, … I paused briefly at the card table set up by the VFW, And said hi to some of the guys I knew selling “Buddy Poppies” We talked a little about who was doing what, who passed away, how things were going at the post….. And how sales were going…..

As we were talking we could see the old man walking across the parking lot with a bag of soda and beer bottles he would collected everyday from the park, and all the garbage cans in town that lined the main street, and take them in for the deposit. One of the guys paused,… he said hey look busy, Here comes “Freddie the freeloader” As he was known in town.

Fred (If that really was his name) was the perfect example of the old Bum,… A stained and frayed kaki jacket that looked three times to big, Dark trousers of indescribable color that hung over his small frame, gathered by a worn out belt. And shoes that looked like he found them while looking for bottles.

As he approached, he gave a big grin exposing a lack of several teeth,.. A sparse growth of beard looking more like a molting bird with patches of feathers gone, as his shaving skills or his eye sight must be failing him. As he got closer, the faint aroma of dirty mildew clothes and old sweat followed.

With a bright and chipper voice he greeted us “Morning fellas !, beautiful day ain’t it !” (one of the guys said under his breath, but loud enough for all to hear, “Well it was” followed by laughter).
Unaffected by the comment or the laughter like he was almost use to it, or was laughing along with the joke, Old Freddie said, “I’ll catch you on the way out for my poppy.”

As Freddie went inside to return his bag of bottles, The conversation turned to him,…. Rude comments, Jokes, talk about what a worthless human being he is,…. “A waist of skin” was one mans comment and another’s comment “He is using up perfectly good oxygen that someone else could do more with”,.. The insults continued and much to my shame, I stood there and laughed along with them, until the conversation drifted off to the next person that wasn’t there, That they want to talk about.

I talked for a while and made my way in to the store, with list in hand. With my small list complete and securely in my cart, I walked past the Bakery department, If you buy a doughnut, there are tables set up for you to have a free coffee. Sounded good to me, so I picked one out and found a seat,….

There was about 3 or 4 other people sitting there as I found a seat,… and I was immediately accepted and made part of the conversation. I just started to sip my coffee, when they seen Freddie walk up to the bakery counter,…. Some negative things were said, And as they were all getting up and gathering there trash to throw away one man said,… well He’s all yours !,… and laughed,… they all got up and left, Leaving My coffee and me with Freddie,…..

Freddie came over toward me, got his cup of coffee, and sat down at the other table, knowing nobody really wanted to sit with him. He was silent for a few moments then blurted out “Yep ! gonna get me one of them poppies on the way out !,.. Do it every year !”.

I kind of got a chuckle out of his abrupt attempt at starting a conversation. I replied,.. Yep ! I will too,… My Dad was a member of the VFW , He was a WWII combat vet, so I like to support them,…. His eyes lit up,.. I don’t know if it was because of what I said,.. or that I was talking to him at all.

He looked at me with his toothless grin and said I’m a WWII Army vet too !,…. Where did your Dad serve ?… I told him the Asiatic-Pacific, He said I served in Europe !

It was almost like he didn’t know what to say next, But he was starved for conversation and human interaction,…. He looked at me briefly, then looked into his cup of coffee… Followed by these words……

“ Yeah,… The very first action I seen was on my 19th Birthday,.. Little did I know some of those guys that were wishing me Happy Birthday and slapping me on my helmet wouldn’t live through that day……. He never looked up,… just stared deeper into the black coffee that he was holding with both hands. Without looking up he said “I was born on June 6th. 1925,…”

A chill went up the back of my neck as I herd him say that date,… Knowing what I might hear next. “I was with the 29th.” He went on to say never lifting his stair from the coffee cup,… “ I was just a kid, too skinny for my fatigues, or gear,.. Before the gate dropped on that LST you could hear the bullets hitting it… When it did drop everything was shaking,. You were just pushing to get out, I hadn’t even noticed that guys were falling into the drink, cause the gate dropped short. I got pushed into the water and started to sink,.. Then he chuckled, but my gear was so big on me I was able to wiggle out of it.

When I came to the surface there was a body floating right in front of me and I held on, At first it scared me, but then I felt some bullets hit the body, When I looked back I seen bodies, in fact there were bodies all around floating,… I worked my way to shore, but I was totally confused. It was like the first time I ever rode a “Roley-Coster” Everything shaking, you don’t know what next, And you have no control….”

I sat silent having a hard time hearing what this frail old man was pouring out. As he never stop staring at his coffee, almost like he was talking to it,… and not me.

He continued “When I got up on the beach I was exhausted, then I felt somebody throwing sand at me !,…. But nobody was throwing sand at me, it was where the bullets were hitting the beach in front of me and the sand was flying in my face…. Can you believe that ? He said. I was on the beach and it never occurred to me that somebody was shooting at me ! He chuckled for a second,….. But then his face lost all expression.

That’s when I realized, I had no gear, nothing but a helmet. I found a rifle and didn’t know what to do,…. They were shooting at me but I was afraid to shoot back,… I felt the concussion of a explosion and the air around me was black for a few seconds,.. That was the first time I heard the yelling and screaming.

About ten feet away from me was a man that was pretty tore up, I seen him and ran over to him,… I could see a bluff where he would be safe about thirty yards in front of us,…. So I grab him and dragged him over to it,…. But by the time I got him there he had been hit again and he was gone. That’s when I seen another guy that was hit, I ran out and got him back there, and then a few more.

That’s when I realized I lost my rifle again, He chuckled for a second,… I lost more rifles that day !…. I ran out to grab another one and got back to the position behind that bluff… As much as I wanted too, I never even had a chance to fire a round that day. But over the next several months I had plenty of opportunity to shoot.
Ya know most of those fella’s lived that day, that was a Birthday I’ll never forget.

He broke eye contact with his now cold coffee and looked at me with glassy red bloodshot eyes, I knew what he was holding back inside,.. And thought to myself what a tough son of a gun !


Then he said “They gave me a metal for that day,…” Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out a plastic sandwich bag wrapped up tight, opened it up carefully and pulled out a folded up handkerchief, Laid it on the table and began to unwrap it. As he got toward the center I could see the ribbon that was once bright red, white and blue,… stained, battered, and thread barren,… And beneath it a piece of Bronze in the shape of a star.


I went over to him, shook his hand and thanked him for what he did and for his service to our country,… He almost looked shocked I would shake his hand…. I told him I would stop in again next Friday if he would be there,… His big toothless grin looked quite appealing now,… And I no longer seen a bum,… I could see a young brave man putting it all on the line for Me and the greatest nation on earth…. I would be proud to be counted his friend.

On the way out, I ran across the same men that were there earlier selling Poppies,… and kidding around they smirked and asked “Did you enjoy your visit with Freddie the freeloader ?” …. I looked at them for a second and said,… That Man is ten times the men we are, all put together.

Just goes to show,…. You never know when your in the presence of greatness !

 

"In Flanders Fields" was written by John McCrea during the First World War.

A poem from the prospective of the soldiers that paid the ultimate price.

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.

 

We must never forget our HEROS, That protect the greatest country on earth! And we MUST support our wounded warriors!!!!!!

 

Great story Dennis. Thank you for sharing about Fred!

 

"Nuff said ! U.S. Navy, '68-'70.

 

One final bump,... for the HERO's that served our Country,.......... The smiles, names, and faces that will never grow old, but forever remain young in our minds eye.... "Fair winds, And Following seas"

 

Yesterday I sat before Governor Scott Walker from Wisconsin and right next to a 98 year old Veteran that we helped get to his feet for the flag events as well as to speak to the Governor!

He's a silent man who carries history of the battle every day.

Posted using Full box of Crayons on the Kitchen Walls App!

 

It's nice to see this thread again. I'm not really religious but every memorial day I have my own private moment of silence and give a prayer of gratitude for all who died in foreign lands so that I may be free.