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Comment by Paymaster on May 31, 2011 at 8:45am

Sheila...Which squadron did your son go too?  Just curious as my son was assigned to Norfolk for 5 years.

Comment by Paymaster on May 30, 2011 at 5:22pm

I think this could have been written by my father.  I know he would agree. 
 

From the Veteran's Press Memorial Day 2011 Issue.  Author unknown

 

Memorial Day is their day, isn't it?  It is supposed to be the day a grateful nation pauses to quietly thank the more than one million men and women who have died in military service to their country since the Revolutionary War.

 

Or is it the day the beach resorts kick into high gear for the summer season, the day the strand is covered by fish-belly white people basting themselves with coconut oil, the day the off season rates end and the weekend you can't get in a seaside seafood restaurant with anything less than a one hour wait.

 

Or is it one of the biggest shopping center sales days of the year, a day when hunting for a parking space is the prime sport for the holiday stay at homers.

 

Or is it the weekend when more people will kill themselves on the highways than any other weekend and Highway Patrol Troopers will work overtime picking up the pieces.

 

I think the men and women who died for us would understand what we do with their day.  I hope they would, because if they wouldn't, if they would have insisted that it be a somber respectful day of remembrance, then we have blown it and dishonored their sacrifice.

 

I knew quite a number of those who died, and the guys I knew would have understood.

 

They liked a sunny beach and a cold beer and a hot babe in a bikini, too.  They would have enjoyed packing the kids, the inflatable rafts, the coolers and the suntan lotion in the car and heading for the lake.  They would have enjoyed staying at home and cutting the grass and getting together with some friends and cooking some steaks on the grill, too.

 

But they didn't get the chance.  They blew up in the Marine Barracks in Beirut,  and died in the oily waters of the Persian Gulf.    They lost their life to a sniper in Afghanistan or an IED in Iraq.  They caught theirs at an airstrip in Grenada in the little war everyone laughed at.  They bought the farm in the I Drang Valley, and on Heartbreak Ridge, Phu Bai and Hue.  They froze at the Chosin Reservoir and were shot at the Pusan Perimeter.  They drowned in the surf at Omaha Beach or fell in the fetid jungle on Guadalcanal.  They died in the ice and snow of the Bulge.  Others are still entombed in the Pacific Ocean aboard their ships and in the waters of Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Arizona.  They were at Somme and San Juan Hill and at Gettysburg and at Cerio Gordo and at Valley Forge.

 

They couldn't be here with us this weekend, but I think they would understand that we don't spend the day in tears and heart wrenching memorials.  They wouldn't want that.  Grief is not why they died.

 

They died so we could go fishing.  They died so a father could hold his laughing little girl over the waves.  They died so another father could toss a baseball to his sonin the backyard.  They died so a buddy could drink a cold beer on his day off.  They died so a family could hop in the car and go shopping and maybe stop for ice cream on the way home.

 

They won't mind that we have chosen their day to have or first big outdoor party of the year.  But they wouldn't mind either, if we took just a second and thought about them.  Some will think of them formally, of course.  Wreaths will be laid in small, sparsely attended ceremonies in military cemeteries and at monuments at state capitols and in town squares.  Flags will fly over graves, patriotic words will be spoken and a few people will probably feel a little anger that more people didn't show up.  They'll think that no one else remembered.

 

But we do remember.  We remember Smitty and Dave and Chico and the guys who died.  We will remember the deal we made. If I buy it, we said, drink a beer for me.  I'll do it for you guys.  I'll drink that beer for you, today, and I'll sit on that beach for you, and I'll check out the girls for you, and, just briefly, I'll think of you.  I won't let your memory spoil the trip but you will be on that sunny beach with me today.   I will not mourn your death this Memorial Day, my friend.  Rather, I'll celebrate the life you gave me.

 

This BUD's for you, Brother.

 

__,_._,___

 

Comment by Paymaster on May 30, 2011 at 10:13am

Life doesn't get any better than an Academy graduation!

Comment by OBRIENFM on May 29, 2011 at 8:26pm

Whoops !!!  I meant to say that the squadrons represented in the Flyover were from Oceana & Lemoore.  Sorry 'bout that !

Comment by OBRIENFM on May 29, 2011 at 7:53pm

Indy Transponder: U.S. military to be honored on Indianapolis 500 R...

Regarding the Indy 500 Flyover, the F/18s were from 2 squadrons, one in Oceana, & the other from Oceana. 

Comment by snowmc on May 28, 2011 at 11:14pm

Thanks rose4256....forecast includes wind gusts up to 40 mph....we will be dry and warm inside!

Comment by snowmc on May 28, 2011 at 11:11am

Thanks everyone...I will be sure to post pictures next week.  We had to move the wedding from our backyard to a nice indoor venue....forecast is 59 with showers....not good garden wedding weather!

Comment by snowmc on May 27, 2011 at 12:22am

My son arrives home in 2 hours for his wedding this Sunday.....haven't seen him since August.  Excited much?  I'd say YES!!!

Comment by lsP3Orion on May 26, 2011 at 1:01pm

Jami - I am so sorry for your loss and hope that you have wonderful memories of your mom to get you and your family through this sad time!

Comment by P3PilotMOM on May 26, 2011 at 10:53am

Denise, stress management is something my son had to learn during training. The navy has programs/help for this that he utilized. He has gotten much better. Hope this helps.

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