Thank you for your service.

[+ purplekow]

We are getting toward the middle of May and in a few blinks of an eye, Memorial Day Weekend will be here. Memorial Day weekend has become the unofficial start of the summer season and the weekend when the Fire Island boys trot out their skimpiest bathing suits before slipping out of their skimpiest bathing suits and into what they have strived for seveal months to achieve, their skimpiest birthday suits.

 

Before the celebration of the sun and the flesh begins in earnest, I would like to thank the men of women of the military and to stop and recall their fallen comrades. Political ideology aside, the members of our military fight with the belief that the freedoms we enjoy are worth fighting to protect. So if there any members of the military acitve or retired here on the board, Thank you for your service.

 

In particular, I find myself thinking of two young men who gave the ultimate in Viet Nam. DK lived five houses up from me and was about 7 years older. He was one of 7 children and when word of his death in Viet Nam spread among the members of my small neighborhood in Queens, it left a palpable emptiness that colored my childhood and shaped my views and politics in a profound and longlasting manner. It brought the horror of war home to me and sapped all the unbridled joy of a childhood summer and crushed it irreparably. It was the first but not the last death to touch me that summer.

 

JA was the oldest son of another family on the block. My mother and his were friends and I was frequently in his home. He was a subdued young man, rarely spoke and rarely deigned to talk to any of the younger kids on the block. My mother and his were having coffee the afternoon that the soldier bearing the news of his death arrived and I was playing outside with friends when I saw that soldier approach the house. The scream still rings in my ears now, almost fifty years later. I ran to the house and found my mother holding up her friend, the sobs and moans uncontrolled.

 

I thank both them for their service as best I can and I remember their sacrifice and the efforts of all the people who are our troops.

So before going out to enjoy the summer, stop and give a passing thought to those in the military, espcially any who have a special meaning to you. If you are of a religious nature, perhaps a prayer.

[adriano46]

Purplecow - very moving tribute and one that resonates with my childhood too growing up during the Vietnam War, losing friends and classmates there.

[+ WilliamM]

Before the celebration of the sun and the flesh begins in earnest, I would like to thank the men of women of the military and to stop and recall their fallen comrades. Political ideology aside, the members of our military fight with the belief that the freedoms we enjoy are worth fighting to protect. So if there any members of the military acitve or retired here on the board, Thank you for your service.

 

I thank both them for their service as best I can and I remember their sacrifice and the efforts of all the people who are our troops.

So before going out to enjoy the summer, stop and give a passing thought to those in the military, espcially any who have a special meaning to you. If you are of a religious nature, perhaps a prayer.

 

Thanks for such wonderful and thoughtful comments, and not just the ones I highlighted. I understand why people says "thank you for your service." If you were not in the military, and especially in a war zone, it's difficult to ask meaningful questions. But, I urge people to try, especially if you know the person a bit. If not, please write a letter (even one paragraph) to your U.S. representative or senators about the recent news concerning veterans who died waiting for help at VA hospitals. When people say "thank you for your service" to me," it just brings sad memories of so many people who deserve praise much more than me.