Memorial Day Thoughts

On certain holidays I spend some time in thought about their nature. Memorial Day is one of those, and these are my reflections today:

Of the soldiers who lost their lives, directly or indirectly, keeping their loved one safe. Also of the sacrifice made by their families do the loss of a loved one on my behalf. I return their sacrifice as best I can by honoring them and trying to better myself and my country so their sacrifice was not wasted. This includes resisting this country's slide into Tyranny.

Many of these men and women lost their lives in wars that had nothing to do with the defense of the US or even the defense of an ally or against Tyranny. These men and women died in wars that were politically driven or in just wars where politicians prevented the from winning and prevented them from adequately defending themselves. Their deaths are just as sad though every bit as honorable as the others. I return their sacrifice by being vigilant and using my vote and my voice to resist those politicians who would use them as cannon fodder for their own political gain.

God bless each and every soldier who gave his or her life for us as well as for those who were willing to do so and lived to come home. God bless every loved one who feels that loss every day.

 

Amen! Well said.

 

I agree ,,,,,Well said ,,
It's really amazing that so many people really don't even know what the reason for this day is .

 

All gave some, and some gave all!
This is my Holliday to pay honors to those who went before me, and to remember those who paid the price of freedom in mind, body, and blood! May they all rest in peace!

 

As former USAF every Memorial Day I think of John Magee who wrote one of the greatest poems ever written, High Flight, and who was killed in a training accident in Brittan as a pilot when he was 19. What might have he written if he had lived. We not only lost those individuals who were killed in those wars, but often the brightest perished and we never reaped the benefits that their lives might of brought us. The many graves are filled not only with their bodies, but their dreams and the losses we all suffered, both in our lost interactions, as well as in the things that never were.

Words to High Flight > Air Force Historical Support Division > Fact Sheets

 

"Many of these men and women lost their lives in wars that had nothing to do with the defense of the US or even the defense of an ally or against Tyranny. These men and women died in wars that were politically driven or in just wars where politicians prevented the from winning and prevented them from adequately defending themselves."

I have found that the older I get, the more this troubles me. Sadly, I try not to think about it or I try to 'soldier up' saying soldiers die for '3 hots and a cot', after all they volunteered and knew the risk to soldier...but it doesn't pass the logic test for long for most were indeed misused and died not protecting you, me, or our nation. The greatest problem with getting older is with age comes experience and with experience comes knowledge; now, I know most wars, probably 99% of them, this country has fought has not a thing to do with the defense of our nation. Perhaps it has to do with market share or access to markets or natural resources or protection of those resources or some political screw-up or plain old politics but seldom, in our history, has it had anything to do with defense of our nation. Major General Smedley Butler (2-time Medal of Honor winner) said 'War is a Racket', even wrote a book about it. I wonder if we will ever learn he was right...I highly doubt it.

War Is A Racket, by Major General Smedley Butler, 1935

 

High Flight was probably the first poem I didn't "have to" learn.

 

If only our young knew the price our country’s hero paid in blood for them to have the good life they have today.
Remember our war hero today.

 

I thought I was finished with this post but... Have many of you seen the beaches of Normandy, specifically Omaha Beach? The first time I saw it the words blew out of me, "How in the hell did they do it?" It's truly amazing when you go to some of these battlefields and realize the tenacity, perseverance and pure guts these soldiers had. I remember watching an interview with members of the 501st Easy Company (from 'Band of Brothers') and 1SG Lipton stated, "We had faith in each other, our leaders, and our country" when asked how they got through it. I wonder if our soldiers would say the same thing now about our leaders and country. I just wonder...

 

Glenn H Smith, Teacher, (Amphi School Dist) and also a Teacher and leader in the Scouts.

Glenn is gone now, felled not by a bullet or bomb, but old age.

I met Mr Smith ('Glenn' was for the adults only) when I joined up with Troop 115 in Tucson back in 1963. The Troop was chartered shortly after the end of WWII. Glenn severed as the Scoutmaster both initially and for decades after. The Troop is still chartered and active today.

As a Vet of WWII, he soon attracted a core group of other combat experienced Vets to help with the Troop. Run very much as a Paramilitary youth group, Troop activities focused on the skill set needed to live for extended periods in the field, if a draftee was to survive.

The Troop was led by the members of the Troop with the core adult providing advice and ensuring nobody killed themselves. Apart from direct supervision of the cooking and clean up, the adults were all but invisible while out in the field. If you failed to pitch a tent correctly and it collapsed in the middle of the night - the most one of the adults would do is hold a lantern while the Scout sorted out what was needed to fix the problem. If any of the junior leaders failed to assist/offer suggestions - they had a long conversation with Mr Smith at the next regular meeting.

As I look back on this as an adult, I realized what Glenn had put together was a leadership teaching machine, for lack of a better description. With the Draft still active, most everyone I knew in the Troop wound up in the military at some point. More importantly, they all came home alive.

Glenn is an example of the kind of men, mostly Vets, who were involved in their Church and Community - the men that made (the then USA) a great place to live and raise a family.

I make these kinds of posts once in a while -- for the men I knew as a kiddo that helped me make the transition into a adult.

So, Thank you Mr Smith. Thank you for your time, effort, sharing your knowledge and the wonderful "war stories" that served to provide insights as to how people think/act under stress.

I've made the point in a couple of my books that in every successful organization, you are bound to find more than a few Vets - maybe under a rock, that is to say, out of sight, but always pulling their weight and then some....

 

That really hits home for me!
My scouting adventures were very simmiler. We had our Senior ScoutMaster, Sgt. Ed Thruenger, a WWII vet of Normandy and many others after, Mr. T lost a leg and had suffered other injuries in the battle of the bulge and came home to an uncertain world! Mr.T had spirit and a drive and determination to not let his loss get him down or hold him back. He went in to have a wife and family, and he took on tbe the "Job" or Scout Master, ultimatly becoming the regional director of the entire BSA. He was and remained our S.C. for the entire time i was a scout, and several others after my time, but he was always a positive influence, and a genuine hero we all looked up to! Ed was also a neighbor in Portland, just down the street from us, jis youngest son and I were the same age, so I got to listen to a lot of Eds stories outside the scouts.
We also had several vets as assistent scout masters, many from Korea or Vietnam, all were super awesome adults to have the experience of learning and growing from!

Of my Troupe of 23 young men, all but 4 joined the military and served, all with honor, and all but one have retired or left the service after "Doing their Hitch" the one still serving is a full Brigider on his way up, and if you ask him how and why, he would tell you it was partly because of Mr.T and the other adults involved in our troupe!
We lost Mr.T a few years back, old age finally did what the Nazis failed to do, but he never broke his spirit or his zest for life, and 2rhe impact he had on so many lives was his greatest accomplishment! Rest easy Mr.T your knolage, wisdom, and leadership meant more to all of us then you could ever know!

 

For me, this pretty well sums it up...Army Virtue-Tweet Backfires: 1000s Expose "Heartbreaking" Horrors Of War

 

That makes me mad as hell.

 

That link @Oltymer posted is sad and makes me mad. that’s not how it’s supposed to be, the system failed them and we failed them in not raising hell to get Washington to fix the VA. The soldiers are not getting the help they need. Sadly our politicians are focused on other things besides our soldiers. Maybe I’ll send that link to my representatives.

 

There are good and bad things about the military. i have had good and bad experiences in the military. There are good and bad people in the military. It is a cross section of society. The VA sucks to deal with BUT I would do it all over again because I love my country. That being said once I get my 20 year letter from the reserves its peace out.

 

I'd like to think that link represents a small portion of the military and you'll notice most are about PTSD or Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a mistake, pure and simple, and I hope the military learned from it. The same could be said of those picture of soldiers handling blocks of uranium used in producing the first atomic bombs or when they were exposed to radiation from nuclear testing.

PSTD is an after effect of war and we hear much about it now but imagine 16 million men and women under arms in WW2. I am pretty sure this what happen to my father. He was a WW2 hero, shot out of his boat 3 times. I never met the man but was told he wasn't the same afterwards so the nation got its hero and I grew up without a father, never met the man.

The problem isn't so much the VA...which recently told me my medical records are lost and I should go to the Netherlands for documents of a surgery that took place 37 years age..the problem is the scope of the problem is so huge so massive and convoluted that it's almost impossible to encompass and get it right and continues to grow with each conflict. Is there enough money to double the VA funding? No. No, there isn't and there never will be. I do think the VA tries to do a good job but the problem is so gigantic its almost impossible to resolve.

What we as citizens need to understand is each one of these meaningless conflicts comes at a price that must be paid by us, the American people, for decades in treasure and by the military folks that were there. It's not as simple as we go in, shoot them up, and go out. The cost continues for decades and generations or more...

 

The VA is screwed up and some of the people that complain about it are the same ones that want the government to run ALL medical care. Crap. At least I get insurance through my civilian employer and don’t have to put up with the VA. My husband deals with them some due to his injury but gets the care through my insurance as well. Otherwise you wait months for crap care...

 

The VA is a sad comentary on America. WW1 amd WW2 vets got very little, and Korea little more. Vietnam was a shitshow of crime and corruption, america at its worse, amd the VA lilely killed, and is still killing our vets. All the little conflicts since Nam have not improved things one bit, and only recently has any movent been made toward fixing a broken system.
My grand dad suffered PTSD, hell, all tje vets I have known suffered some what. None complained, went about their lives as best they could and did what they needed to get through. Some drink, some do drugs, some are loners who cannot function in society.
My own self, I have a few injuries that jave required post service care, and the VA absolutely sucks. At least I was able to get through the registration prosess and didnt get denied, got a doctor thats ok, and can use my own doctor and health care and its almost always approved.
My Dad, not so much! Dad begin his service at the hight of the Vietnam conflict, served aboard his ship taking in sea water near the delta area for the fresh water plants to keep the ship operational between replenishment. Dad went on to retire from the Navy after reaching mandatory retirement age and continued to teach as a civilian long after! Never really needed the VA until some odd ball stuff started happening and his primary dr. recomended dad visit the VA and get in the system for possable care. Long story short, the VA denied him entirely!!!
Hie does that even happen? Took us 2 years of serious fighting to get the damn VA to approve him and get him in the system, but they imdiatly denies his claims because he was only Navy, never went ashore and all that! Thankfully that has been mostly resolved now, and care is now finally being approved!
This is one of the biggest crimes in american history, denying us vets care that we earned! It should be: you did your time and were honorably discharged, your automatically in the system, and approvals should be easy, a simple yes or no, and a strait forward system of appeals and arbitration available to resolve disputes. All service injures should be automatocally accepted with out question, with rare instances of horseplay or just stupidity being reduced or denied as needed. Het a funky problem, likely something connected with your service, automatically get care and approval and move on! This isnt happening, and the Gov refuses to even accept responsibility for a failed system, but boy do the damn buildings look great, pay no attention to those homeless vets camped outside the doors and in the parking lot!