A reminder

Not enough posts off topic of Memorial Day to worry about. And so what if a few people thank a veteran. There is nothing wrong with that.

Last memorial day I went back up to the two Cemeteries where we do services to raise the flags back to full staff. We send two people to do this. One plays to the colors on a boom box and the other takes care of the flag. Well at the one cemetery we did the flag and saluted and as we were leaving a lady looked at us and said, "Thank you, my Dad heard that." So thinaking a vet really isn't out of the ordinary for Memorial Day. In most cases it is a Veteran who placed those flags in the cemetery, My post placed 700 of them.....

We thank you not just because you served, but because you served with those who died. You connect us. They live in your memories.

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“For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'.” I always think of this verse when I think of our loved ones we have lost in war.
John Greenleaf Whittier
 
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Not enough posts off topic of Memorial Day to worry about. And so what if a few people thank a veteran. There is nothing wrong with that.

Last memorial day I went back up to the two Cemeteries where we do services to raise the flags back to full staff. We send two people to do this. One plays to the colors on a boom box and the other takes care of the flag. Well at the one cemetery we did the flag and saluted and as we were leaving a lady looked at us and said, "Thank you, my Dad heard that." So thinaking a vet really isn't out of the ordinary for Memorial Day. In most cases it is a Veteran who placed those flags in the cemetery, My post placed 700 of them.....

I have been discussing this on a forum of my local newspaper. People are saying that Memorial Day is to remember anyone who died, whether they were serving in the Armed Forces or not. They are saying it is to remember all veterans, not just those who died. Then I come to this forum and see that some people are posting about veterans in general. Seems like Memorial Day is becoming something else than what it was intended for, and that's too bad.

My husband (now deceased) was a Chief in the Navy and served two tours in Vietnam. He is the one who drummed home to me that Memorial Day is for those who died while serving their country as a member of the Armed Forces. Here he was, a retired Navy Chief, veteran of foreign war, and if you tried to honor him on Memorial Day, he would say, "This day is not for me. It's for those who died."

Sorry, he's not here to take this issue up with you. Because I'm sure he would and he was not as easily shamed into silence as I am.
 
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Not enough posts off topic of Memorial Day to worry about. And so what if a few people thank a veteran. There is nothing wrong with that.

Last memorial day I went back up to the two Cemeteries where we do services to raise the flags back to full staff. We send two people to do this. One plays to the colors on a boom box and the other takes care of the flag. Well at the one cemetery we did the flag and saluted and as we were leaving a lady looked at us and said, "Thank you, my Dad heard that." So thinaking a vet really isn't out of the ordinary for Memorial Day. In most cases it is a Veteran who placed those flags in the cemetery, My post placed 700 of them.....

I have been discussing this on a forum of my local newspaper. People are saying that Memorial Day is to remember anyone who died, whether they were serving in the Armed Forces or not. They are saying it is to remember all veterans, not just those who died. Then I come to this forum and see that some people are posting about veterans in general. Seems like Memorial Day is becoming something else than what it was intended for, and that's too bad.

My husband (now deceased) was a Chief in the Navy and served two tours in Vietnam. He is the one who drummed home to me that Memorial Day is for those who died while serving their country as a member of the Armed Forces. Here he was, a retired Navy Chief, veteran of foreign war, and if you tried to honor him on Memorial Day, he would say, "This day is not for me. It's for those who died."

Sorry, he's not here to take this issue up with you. Because I'm sure he would and he was not as easily shamed into silence as I am.

And I agree. Because of the above post with the front page picture of myself i had at least 200 people wanting to shake my hand and thank me today.

I told them all the same thing. It's something that any Sergeant who discovered it would have done. We had our Fly over and our speakers. We had our prayers and our 21 gun salutes. We read the names of those Legionaries who passed away this past year. We honored our dead.

But I will not stop anyone from thanking a veteran while they still live and breathe. Chances are they won't hear your thanks when they are dead.

We had a LTC from the A F Reserve speak today, and just before he finished one of the older veterans (89 year old WW2 Vet) fell out because of the heat. We had to call an ambulance for him. The LTC stopped with his speech and told the crowd, "He stood his post for us, we will stand our post for him." And we waited until the ambulance left to finish...

Last word I got was that he was doing OK, but I don't think he'll make next years ceremonies.
 
SFC Ollie, thank you for discussing this with me. I hope that the old soldier is okay. I just lost my father a couple of years ago, he was 86 and a WWII veteran.
 
SFC Ollie, thank you for discussing this with me. I hope that the old soldier is okay. I just lost my father a couple of years ago, he was 86 and a WWII veteran.

Thank you. I just now got an update on Jimmy. He was admitted for several problems one was Dehydration. But he had an underlying kidney problem that they haven't decided what it is yet????? And he had an irregular heartbeat. That could have come from the heat stroke but we'll have to see.

He did tell his wife that he was just taking a short vacation from all the chores she had lined up for him.....

I hope so....
 
For Daddy boo boo, Grampy, uncle Bill, great uncle Roy*, and great uncle Mike, RIP, thank you.

Roy Pullen died at Pearl Harbor, his older brother Mike never recovered mentally. He too was at Pearl Harbor. I met Mike when I was a young child.

Pullen, Roy A. Died at Pearl Harbor
 

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