Honor Our Heroes

the men who stormed the beaches at Normandy. I was lucky to have as my Scout Master in the 1960's a man who was in the 2nd wave at Utah. He is now gone; but he is not forgotten by me.

As an older teenager, I worked with an electric lineman who was in 82nd Airborne. He had helped take Ste.-Mère-Église on D-Day. He too is gone but not forgotten by me. (He was one crazy b*stard. His stories about having trouble with his M-1 Garand all during his jump and the fighting around the town were funny to say the least. He actually said that at one point he was throwing un-fired .30-06 rounds at the Germans because he was having trouble firing them in his rifle. I asked why he didn't just get another M-1 from a wounded or dead trooper and use it. He answered that he never thought of it until he got back to England.)

Today I will be reading FDR's speech to my children, and we will be watching "The Longest Day". Sadly, most of the young people I know have no clue about the significance of this day. When I asked my niece if she wanted to watch the movie with us, she asked what it was about. When I told her, she said, "When did that happen??"

I refuse to let my kids slip into that ignorant abyss.

Being a fellow vet myself from the Viet Nam era, and the son of a WWII vet, this week means something to me.
Our freedom... The fact that I am even alive...
America's history and service to the world means alot to me.
I am fortunate to own a commemorative (.30-06) D-Day Garand. Unfired, as of yet...

One thing I learned while serving in the USMC, although I never saw combat, was to learn to respect members of all the Armed Services whose paths mine crossed from time-to-time, at airports, USOs, bus stations, and on Okinawa.

Young men away from family and friends, but finding fraternity and association in a common cause which often made us closer than friends; brothers-at-arms.

My brother served in the Army at the same time as I was serving in the Corps. On board the LST USS Barbour County in '77, I learned a great deal of respect for how hard the Navy sailors worked. (...and I thought Marines had it hard!)

While stationed on "The Rock", the Airmen at Kadena Air Base always treated us like royalty when we would show up in their chow halls.

I daily pray for and thank God for those who now carry the banner to Protect & Defend the greatest country the world has ever known. SEMPER FI and GOD BLESS ALL OUR TROOPS!

Libertyworld posted:

****I am fortunate to own a commemorative (.30-06) D-Day Garand. Unfired, as of yet...****

That's awesome...definitely something to hand down through the generations.

Definitely.

The military was the one place I noticed where young men formed a fraternity, regardless of religious, racial/ethnic, or other differences.

It's amazing now, when I meet up with someone I've never seen before and we find out that we each served, how quickly a comradeship springs up, and it's like we've already known each other.

Thanks for coming by.