Wishing no one a good Memorial Day, it's not possible.

[whazoo]

on edit:

It's true, I have forgotten the real meaning of Memorial Day. I was in a rare good mood yesterday when I posted my wishes for a good Memorial Day to the Vets, forgetting that another day is for them. It is not possible to wish a Vet a good Memorial Day or weekend, I realize that and my embarrassment is complete. To the living Vets, please accept my apologies...

[trail-explorer]

gbopp wrote:
Anchors Aweigh...

how much does an anchor weigh?

[portscanner]

My father - Navy - Pacific Theatre WWII
My grandfather - Army - Normandy

[skipbee]

This is a day to remember all of those who have been, are, and will be in the future, the inspiration and motivation to protect and defend this glorious land our ours. Pray for peace! Defend against aggression.

Love to all,

Skip Bosley

USAF 1955-1959

[joerg68]

The largest american WWII cemetery in Europe is 10 only minutes from where I live:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorraine_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial

It is a very humbling and saddening experience to go there and see the endless rows of the names of the soldiers who died here fighting for a better world. I would not sit here and be able write this today if it were not for their sacrifice.

Thank You.

[AidenJ]

Whazzoo
Thanks for starting this post. Like all have said no apollogies necessary. You have stirred some emotional patriotism in the TC forum.
To our fallen, Thank You and RIP

1966-89 USN retired
67-69 VN

[Sweet_Tater]

AKSuperDually wrote:
Thank you, but memorial day isn't about us veterans...it's about our friends and brothers who didn't make it back. Thank you for remembering them.

Amen , thank you for remembering our fallen brothers

USMC 1985-89

[abnengr]

To my fellow Vets, "Thanks for you service."
To everyone else, "Thanks for supporting the troops that are serving today."

Rick
US Army 1980-2001
Airborne Combat Engineer

[Ramblin__Ralph]

I just left a campground of 80+ sites and was one of the very few flying the Stars and Stripes. 😞

Did my time as USN, Pacific Fleet, 1964 -> 1967.

[bens170]

I would also like to say a sincere thank you.
Grandfather Maj. Gen B.M. Sawbridge US Army Retired Deceased WWI & WWII North Africa & European Theater veteran
My dad Col. J.J. Sawbridge US Army Retired Deceased WWII, South Pacific, Occupational Forces Japan, 2 tours Vietnam 1963 Advisor & 1966 1st Log Command & Cold War Veteran.
Myself Air & Army National Guard former member USAF 1975-1991. Cold War Veteran
Ben

[Phancy]

Again as others have said a very sincere THANK YOU.

[c_traveler2]

I give my thanks to all the vets that have given their all and some more.

Glenn Wood Blasingame (my Father) Korean War...died May 21,1971

Norman Blasingame(cousin)......Vietnam...came back in a box

Eugene "Catfish" Blasingame ( Uncle) fought the Nazi, passed on a couple of years ago.

Charles Wilson (cousin) Pacific/Japan, his group was one of the first to be in Japan after dropping of the "bomb" looking for the suicide subs. He died about 5 years ago of cancer due to being expose to the radioactive fallout in Japan.

Harry Willie Randall (Late Father-in -Law) Pacific Theater, was on one of the guard boats surrounding the USS Missouri during the peace treaty signing.

Charles Wilson and Harry Randall were in the same general area in Japan at the same time and never knew each other till I married my Julie, Harry was Julie's stepdad

[NRALIFR]

On Memorial Day, I try to make an effort to contemplate the soldiers who have died in the service of our country. I like reading about the recipients of every country's highest military honors, their bravery, and their sometimes extra-ordinary actions that are difficult for me to imagine.

I'm especially fascinated with the more obscure soldiers stories that most have never heard of. One person that's come to mind each Memorial Day since I first heard of him is a man named Lauri Allan Törni, a Finnish Army Captain who fought under three nations flags in his lifetime. First Finland, then Germany when he fought against the Soviets, and finally the American flag when he was know as Larry Thorne. His life story is fascinating.

While in the Finish Army he fought against the Soviets, and his unit inflicted such heavy casualties on Russian units that the Soviet Army placed a bounty on his head. He was dissatisfied with the terms of the Finnish peace treaty with the Soviets, which required Finland to take up arms against Germany, so he joined the German Army so he could continue fighting them. He surrendered to British troops before the end of WWII, and ended up in a British POW camp. He escaped, returned to Finland, where he was tried for treason and sentenced to prison. He escaped again, was recaptured, then was pardoned by the Finnish President in 1948.

He came to the US in 1950 when he jumped overboard from a Swedish cargo ship near Mobile , AL and swam to shore. He Joined the US Army in 1954, and ended up in the Special Forces, where he was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in 1957.

He was killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam on October 18, 1965. His remains were found in 1999 and repatriated to the United States, then formally identified in 2003. They were buried on 26 June 2003 at Arlington National Cemetery.

There have actually been several books written about him, but I don't believe they are widely known in the US. In Finland, the survivors, friends, and families of Detachment Törni formed the Lauri Törni Tradition Guild. The Infantry Museum in Mikkeli, Finland, has an exhibit dedicated to Törni, as does the Military Museum of Finland in Helsinki. He received several medals and awards in his long military career (not the MOH).

An impressive man with a very impressive life story. I'm surprised it hasn't been made into a movie. His wikipedia article is here, but I'd encourage you to seek out some of the books that have been written about him as well.

God Bless all who have died in service to the USA.

:):)

[AKSuperDually]

There certainly are no apologies needed. I, myself, reserve Monday each year to allow myself to grieve. I generally try to remove myself from others for this weekend, but circumstances are a bit different this year.

Thank you to all who served.

We have a day later in the year.

For those who have loved ones and brothers who died, this day has a different meaning which is very important to us. Many of my brothers died in the past couple of years, so it's still fresh in my memory. Emotions run high on this weekend, because I let them.

[Handbasket]

Thanks. We living vets will have our day in November.

Jim

USN VN, '67-'71