Printable Version of Topic
Click here to view this topic in its original format
Celtic Radio Community > General Discussion > Monday Is Memorial Day In The U. S.


Posted by: MacEoghainn 28-May-2004, 04:29 PM
Memorial Day, May 31, 2004

We happy few, we band of brothers...

Monday is Memorial Day in the USA and Memorial Day is suppose to be a day to honor those, as President Lincoln said at Gettysburg, ?Gave the last full measure of devotion?. It has been expanded over time to be a day of honor for both the living and the dead, past and present.

I was going to post something on each veteran I mention here but that would be to large and unwieldy, so I will just list the names that I know, the time /war of service, and their relation to me.

Family:

The American Revolution

William Ewing, Maryland Militia (direct ancestor)
William Higgins, Continental Army (direct ancestor)
Jeremiah Gallihue, Continental Army (direct ancestor)


The American Civil War

Albert Ewing, 97th OVI GAR (my great-greatgrandfather)
Levi Ewing, 3rd OVI GAR (Albert?s brother)
Robert Ewing, 3rd OVI GAR (Albert?s brother)
Edmund Ewing, 97th OVI GAR (Albert?s brother)

WW I

John Higgins, United States Army (my great-uncle, he experienced "Chemical Warfare" firsthand in the trenches of France during the First World War and spent the rest of his life in VA Hospitals)

WW II

Emmett Raymond Powell, United States Navy, (my maternal grandfather)
Russell Edmund Ewing, United States Navy, (cousin-descendant of Levi Ewing)
Charles Gilbert Snyder, United States Army, (my dad?s maternal uncle)
James Richard Snyder, United States Army Air Force (my dad?s maternal uncle)
Floyd Arnold Gothard, Jr., United States Army (KIA), (maternal grandfather?s cousin)
Roy L. Pixler, United States Army Air Force (great-uncle)
Paul Loring Boehner, United States Navy (my dad?s step-brother)

Between WW II and Korea

Richard Terrence Page, United States Marine Corp (my dad?s step-brother)

Korea

James Andrew Powell, United States Air Force (KIA) (maternal grandfather?s cousin)

Post Vietnam

Thomas R. Martin, United States Army (2nd cousin)


Friend

James ?Jim? Buster AT3, United States Navy (killed in the line of duty)



There are too many of my other friends, both living and dead, from both military service and who I have known since, who have served their country honorably, but it would take to long to list them all here. Let me just say it is my honor to call them ?brother?.


FREEDOM ISN'T FREE

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze
A young soldier saluted it, and then
He stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many Pilots' planes shot down?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No Freedom isn't free


I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant "Amen"
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard at the
bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.....
No -- Freedom isn't free!!

Author Unknown

Posted by: talleyrand 28-May-2004, 08:46 PM
Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o'er,
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Dream of battled fields no more.
Days of danger, nights of waking.

Sir Walter Scott

Posted by: Sea Dog 29-May-2004, 12:03 AM
Friend

Captain William L. McGonagle, U.S. Navy, USC Class of 47

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sailing in international waters, the Liberty was attacked without warning by jet fighter aircraft and motor torpedo boats which inflicted many casualties among the crew and caused extreme damage to the ship. Although severely wounded during the first air attack, Capt. McGonagle remained at his battle station on the badly damaged bridge and, with full knowledge of the seriousness of his wounds, subordinated his own welfare to the safety and survival of his command. Steadfastly refusing any treatment which would take him away from his post, he calmly continued to exercise firm command of his ship. Despite continuous exposure to fire, he maneuvered his ship, directed its defense, supervised the control of flooding and fire, and saw to the care of the casualties. Capt. McGonagle's extraordinary valor under these conditions inspired the surviving members of the Liberty's crew, many of them seriously wounded, to heroic efforts to overcome the battle damage and keep the ship afloat. Subsequent to the attack, although in great pain and weak from the loss of blood, Captain McGonagle remained at his battle station and continued to command his ship for more than 17 hours. It was only after rendezvous with a U.S. destroyer that he relinquished personal control of the Liberty and permitted himself to be removed from the bridge. Even then, he refused much needed medical attention until convinced that the seriously wounded among his crew had been treated. Capt. McGonagle's superb professionalism, courageous fighting spirit, and valiant leadership saved his ship and many lives. His actions sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

Mar 1999, Lung Cancer


Shipmate

EMFN Raymond Peterson, USN, died 1978. Industrial Accident at 32nd St Naval Station. I witnessed the accident and took the accident pictures for the subsequent JAG investigation.

FN Steven Klein, USN, Jan 1, 1980, killed by drunk driver in first fatal accident in San Diego 1980. I had the duty, took the call from the Coroner and made initial notifications.

Classmates and Friends

Lt. Art Doty, USN, USC Class of 73, 1993/cause of death unknown

Capt. James E. Etter, USMC, USC Class of 74, Air Medal, for successfully landing a CH-46 on a ship saving the 36 Marines on board. I worked with his father while he was still flying.

1st Lt. Tim Heidkamp, USMC, USC Class of 76, date/cause of death unknown

1st Lt. Mark Koerber, USMC, USC Class of 78, date/cause of death unknown

Lt Douglas Maddelein, USN, USC Class of 73, 1993/cause of death unknown

LCDR Jim Dalton, USNR ret, USC Class of 79, killed by drunk driver Mar 2001

Ens Tom Vonnegut, USN, USC Class of 76, 1977, Student Naval Aviator, killed in a training accident while in the service of his country

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who biddest the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy Word,
Who walked on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our family shield in danger?s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoever we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.


http://www.cyberhymnal.org/mid/m/e/l/melita.mid

Posted by: aklassie 29-May-2004, 03:11 AM
America has seem to have forgotten what Memorial Day is.
Oh boy an three day weekend and BBQs.
I hope everyone here will take a moment and reflect on this day
and remember the price that was paid for our freedom.

Aklassie,
Wife of a Vet, Desert Storm. Sister of a Vet, Vietnam. Daughter of a Vet, WWII. Grand daughter of a Vet, WWI.

Posted by: MacEoghainn 29-May-2004, 06:00 AM
QUOTE (Sea Dog @ 29-May-2004, 02:03 AM)
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who biddest the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy Word,
Who walked on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our family shield in danger?s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoever we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.


http://www.cyberhymnal.org/mid/m/e/l/melita.mid

Thanks Sea Dog, you have reminded me of my favorite hymn (which I have "liberated" and posted over in the Kirk and Chapel forum, in the thread titled Favorite Hymns by MDF3530).

Posted by: Mailagnas maqqas Dunaidonas 29-May-2004, 06:45 AM
This photo attached, taken from the gunsight of a Soviet MIG fighter, is of C-130 60528. On board this aircraft were 17 members of the United States Air Force on a normal workday that ended with these men paying the ultimate price for a philosophy of "Freedom Through Vigilance." This is a real photograph and on board this aircraft were 17 real men.
See http://www.silent-warriors.com/.

Posted by: gaberlunzie 29-May-2004, 07:52 AM
We honor all of them ...all over the world. No matter if we are for or against war and certain ways of politics; we honor each single soldier.

Posted by: dfilpus 29-May-2004, 08:12 AM
For my father and my father-in-law, who came back from World War II, but left a bit of themselves there.

QUOTE

A Different Trail
      
A brother has fallen.
A son of earth has been called away.
      
When will we meet again?
When will our trails cross?
      
We carry your memory in our hearts.
We remember you in our mind's eye.
      
Will you guide us at the river crossing?
Will we see you again in the high mountain meadow?
      
We will remember you when we hear the beat of the drum.
We will think of you when we hear the sound of the cannon.
      
Will you gather with us at the council fire?
Will we see you on the ridge trail?
      
As time is reckoned, we will soon meet.
Long days are between us now.
      
Farewell my brother, my son.
We'll meet 'round the bend when our trails finally cross.
      
Now hike on your different trail.
We will walk apart from you for a time.
      
      
7/18/88- James A. Dereign
      

Posted by: MDF3530 29-May-2004, 10:32 AM
Here's all in my family that I know who've served in the military ( will put the years if I know them)...

George Biros Sr., maternal grandfather, United States Army, World War I
George Biros Jr., uncle, United States Army, World War II
Thomas Fangman, father, United States Navy, Korea, 1950-1954
James Fangman, uncle, United States Navy, Korea, 1950-1954
Robert Fangman, uncle, United States Army, post-World War II
Charles Fangman, uncle, United States Army, post-World War II
Roger Maulik, uncle, United States Army, post-Korea
Zachary Maulik, cousin, United States Army, 1992-1996
Peter Boby, cousin, United States Marine Corps, 1994-

Posted by: Annabelle 29-May-2004, 03:28 PM
Memorial Day is the day to honor and remember those who have given and paid the ultimate price:

so you can protest wars
so you can sit on your butt and do nothing
so you can complain about the economy
so you can draw on social welfare programs
so you can be different
so you can be christian, muslim, buddist or pagan
so you can be free to make choices for you

They deserve your respect and honor!

Posted by: MacEoghainn 31-May-2004, 04:23 PM
One last thought before this day ends. I will quote Macfive's Clansman, General Douglas MacArthur from his speech at West Point accepting the Thayer Award:


General Westmoreland, General Grove, distinguished guests, and gentlemen of the Corps!

As I was leaving the hotel this morning, a doorman asked me, "Where are you bound for, General?" And when I replied, "West Point," he remarked, "Beautiful place. Have you ever been there before?"

No human being could fail to be deeply moved by such a tribute as this [Thayer Award]. Coming from a profession I have served so long, and a people I have loved so well, it fills me with an emotion I cannot express. But this award is not intended primarily to honor a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code -- the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent. That is the animation of this medallion. For all eyes and for all time, it is an expression of the ethics of the American soldier. That I should be integrated in this way with so noble an ideal arouses a sense of pride and yet of humility which will be with me always: Duty, Honor, Country.

Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.

Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean. The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule.

But these are some of the things they do. They build your basic character. They mold you for your future roles as the custodians of the nation's defense. They make you strong enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid. They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for actions, not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm but to have compassion on those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future yet never neglect the past; to be serious yet never to take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. They give you a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of an appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what next, and the joy and inspiration of life. They teach you in this way to be an officer and a gentleman.

And what sort of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave? Are they capable of victory? Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man-at-arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefield many, many years ago, and has never changed. I regarded him then as I regard him now -- as one of the world's noblest figures, not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless. His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give.

He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. He has written his own history and written it in red on his enemy's breast. But when I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements. In 20 campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand campfires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people. From one end of the world to the other he has drained deep the chalice of courage.

As I listened to those songs [of the glee club], in memory's eye I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs, on many a weary march from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle-deep through the mire of shell-shocked roads, to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgment seat of God.

I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death.

They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory.

Always, for them: Duty, Honor, Country; always their blood and sweat and tears, as we sought the way and the light and the truth.

And 20 years after, on the other side of the globe, again the filth of murky foxholes, the stench of ghostly trenches, the slime of dripping dugouts; those boiling suns of relentless heat, those torrential rains of devastating storms; the loneliness and utter desolation of jungle trails; the bitterness of long separation from those they loved and cherished; the deadly pestilence of tropical disease; the horror of stricken areas of war; their resolute and determined defense, their swift and sure attack, their indomitable purpose, their complete and decisive victory -- always victory. Always through the bloody haze of their last reverberating shot, the vision of gaunt, ghastly men reverently following your password of: Duty, Honor, Country.

The code which those words perpetuate embraces the highest moral laws and will stand the test of any ethics or philosophies ever promulgated for the uplift of mankind. Its requirements are for the things that are right, and its restraints are from the things that are wrong.

The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training -- sacrifice.

In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him.

However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country is the noblest development of mankind.

You now face a new world -- a world of change. The thrust into outer space of the satellite, spheres, and missiles mark the beginning of another epoch in the long story of mankind. In the five or more billions of years the scientists tell us it has taken to form the earth, in the three or more billion years of development of the human race, there has never been a more abrupt or staggering evolution. We deal now not with things of this world alone, but with the illimitable distances and as yet unfathomed mysteries of the universe. We are reaching out for a new and boundless frontier.

We speak in strange terms: of harnessing the cosmic energy; of making winds and tides work for us; of creating unheard synthetic materials to supplement or even replace our old standard basics; to purify sea water for our drink; of mining ocean floors for new fields of wealth and food; of disease preventatives to expand life into the hundreds of years; of controlling the weather for a more equitable distribution of heat and cold, of rain and shine; of space ships to the moon; of the primary target in war, no longer limited to the armed forces of an enemy, but instead to include his civil populations; of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy; of such dreams and fantasies as to make life the most exciting of all time.

And through all this welter of change and development, your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable: it is to win our wars.

Everything else in your professional career is but corollary to this vital dedication. All other public purposes, all other public projects, all other public needs, great or small, will find others for their accomplishment. But you are the ones who are trained to fight. Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory; that if you lose, the nation will be destroyed; that the very obsession of your public service must be: Duty, Honor, Country.

Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds; but serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war-guardian, as its lifeguard from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiator in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded, and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.

Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government; whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing, indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as thorough and complete as they should be. These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a ten-fold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.

You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds. The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.

This does not mean that you are war mongers.

On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished, tone and tint. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears, and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen vainly, but with thirsty ears, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll. In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield.

But in the evening of my memory, always I come back to West Point.

Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country.

Today marks my final roll call with you, but I want you to know that when I cross the river my last conscious thoughts will be of The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps.

I bid you farewell.



"Lest we Forget"!!!!

Posted by: tsargent62 31-May-2004, 08:51 PM
I am nearly speechless. When I was in the Army I heard the words, Duty, Honor, Country. It wasn't until now that I truely understand them.

To all those who paid the ultimate price, for those who died to ensure my children could grow up free, I offer my humblest thanks.

While I was glad to serve, I was always cognizant of those who went before me. I can't directly recognize all my ancestors because I don't really know my family history beyond my grand parent's generation.

Mark C. Sargent, Sergeant, USMC, father, WWII, 1941 - 1946
Hugh Sargent, USMC, uncle, WWII
Stanley Sargent, US Army, paternal grandfather, WWI
Robert Provan, Royal Scots Greys, maternal grandfather, WWI; US Merchant Marine, WWII

Posted by: Annabelle 31-May-2004, 09:06 PM
My family member's have participated in many wars all the way back to the Revolutionary War here in America and In the Highland's of 1715. The basic principal is freedom. Freedom for all of the luxuries I have today here in the United States of America.

No country is perfect and every country has it's share of problems but all in all with the many agenda's folks have today I prefer where I am. Proud to be an American.

General Westmoreland was the Uncle to a girlfriend of mine when her husband and mine were stationed on a Naval Destroyer together out of Charleston Naval Base. Her Uncle commanded such respect but was always gracious in his behavior to all people.

Another great man I met only once I'm sorry to say was in Carmel, California and he was the famous General Doolittle of Doolittle's Raiders that flew the mission in to Toykeo to bomb the city after Pearl Harbor. I treasure his autograph and the time he shared with me in his home. His stories are amazing. If you saw the movie "Pearl Harbor" he was the character Alex Baldwin played. Impressive man and a home that had unbelieveable momento's covering the walls. UNBELIEVABLE Man! What courage!

Since I was a Naval Officer's wife who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy I have been exposed to the valuable understanding of what it is to be a military person representing this country. Service, Honor, Respect and Duty are always on their minds when it comes to their jobs. We are so priviledged to have those in this country who are strong enough to represent us here and abroad serving and sometimes dying for the rest of us at home.

So if you should pass a young person in military uniform sometime in the mall or on the street make sure you tell them to keep up the good work and thank them. It could be your son or daughter who may lay their life down for YOU!


Powered by Invision Power Board (https://www.invisionboard.com)
© Invision Power Services (https://www.invisionpower.com)