I was an Army brat the first few years of my life. I have vague memories (or memories of memories?) of several Army posts; in Georgia, in Arizona, and another place or two. Then my dad was deployed to some place called Korea in 1950.
Three additional memories are a bit more vivid – the day we were notified he was Missing in Action and, sometime later, that his remains had been recovered, and finally, his funeral. I wasn’t allowed to go.
I have a Purple Heart.
He is buried in our home town, and there’s a small memorial in the city park there with his name inscribed. I visit both as often as I can. Even though I was only five or six at the time and will be 66 in about a month I still miss him. I have pictures and memories, and…
I have a Purple Heart.
For many others, like myself, Memorial Day has a face.
As we near the 50 year anniversary of Vietnam there is a wall FULL of my brothers and sisters who earned a Purple Heart
So don’t wish me a happy Memorial Day because…
I have a Purple Heart!
I guess that probably a number of boys and girls of the current generation will be able to say that one day, too.
O thus be it ever that free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation.
I thank you, Mr. Ponsdorf .
Thank Goodness, I was not wounded — I fended off the worst efforts of the Congress and The People (concerning The Vietnam War) .
Well said, sir.
It’s always a bittersweet holiday. We always think of you and express some gratitude that we, unlike you, had our Dads with us to celebrate many of them.
The memory of my Dad returning from Korea are much different from yours. Would you consider sharing mine? Just think of a troop ship pulling into the harbor in San Francisco. Not a dirty hippy in sight.
I don’t have a purple heart but this is how I feel.
I dread conversations with people at this time because they simply don’t understand.
And I am tired of explaining it.
God Bless ya, Pons.
I hear you loud and clear.
V/R
Concur, & my condolences on a pain that will never really go away — we just have to adjust to the load & soldier on.
From last year:
http://plbirnamwood.blogspot.com/2011/05/memorial-day-to-absent-companions.html
“Fiddler’s Green”
Halfway down the trail to Hell,
In a shady meadow green
Are the Souls of all dead troopers camped,
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddlers’ Green.
Marching past, straight through to Hell
The Infantry are seen.
Accompanied by the Engineers,
Artillery and Marines,
For none but the shades of Cavalrymen
Dismount at Fiddlers’ Green.
Though some go curving down the trail
To seek a warmer scene.
No trooper ever gets to Hell
Ere he’s emptied his canteen.
And so rides back to drink again
With friends at Fiddlers’ Green.
And so when man and horse go down
Beneath a saber keen,
Or in a roaring charge of fierce melee
You stop a bullet clean,
And the hostiles come to get your scalp,
Just empty your canteen,
And go to Fiddlers’ Green.
Damn monitor having problems again, got all fuzzy for a while.
Bravo Zulu Pons.
Well said, Zero. I’ve sat here for quite a while trying to think of something fitting to say in response. But there really isn’t anything to say. Memorial day is not about cook outs or Swimming Pool Opening Day. It’s about those who have gone before us and those who mourn their loss.
And you made me cry.
Every time I hear some asshat say “Happy Memorial Day!” I want to cockpunch someone! I know they mean well, but they don’t understand.
Well said.
Well said Zero.
Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day and a host of other remembrance holidays have become nothing more than an occasion for a sale, it seems.
Outside of where I work, I really don’t talk about this topic in general, because most people in this country are in a completely different culture. That’s probably an unfair broad brush, but it’s been my experience.
Very nice Zero, very nice….
God Bless, Zero.
Thinking of you and your father this Memorial Day Ponsdorf. Well said indeed!
My dad came back safe, but I always wonder why people say “Happy Memorial Day.” Um, is it not supposed to be about remembering the dead from the wars and reflecting on what that means? Happy Memorial Day sounds sort of like telling a Christian “happy Good Friday” or a Jew “Happy Day of Atonement.”
Last year Chuck Z wrote a post about “Happy” Memorial Day, which I thought was interesting. He looks at it as a day to celebrate the freedom we enjoy, and the lives of those lost protecting those freedoms. Celebrations are supposed to be “happy”, which is probably where the “Happy Memorial Day” sentiment came from.
There is a poem about not mourning my loss, but celebrating my life. That’s how I think about it when people say “Happy Memorial Day”. I know most people who say “Happy Memorial Day” don’t mean it that way though, but I chose to interpret it that way anyway.
But… I personally do not wish anyone a Happy Memorial Day, for the reasons you cite above. It is a day of reflection.
Thankfully, my dad returned from WWII, or I would not be. So far, my generation and my nephew’s do not have Purple Hearts instead of the loved one.
Memorial Day tends to be a quiet one for me. Time to gather with family and reflect on the sacrifices that gave us the freedom to have those cookouts, etc.
Big hug from the Arkays, Pons.
Memorial Day is a time my dad and I would rather not share. But we do and we get to.
Thank you Zero. Thank you.