In reply to: A quiet salute to a long ago fallen friend posted by BacTien
I was a VA volunteer for a few years.
A clip I hold close to the heart.
The sound of the Budweisers/Tridents being slammed into the coffin too much for me.
Not just words to our veterans.
Our nation owes a debt to them that can never be repaid. We can only acknowledge it, never forget it, and care for our veterans the best way we can when they return and need us. For when we needed them, they did not hesitate to step up to the line and answer the call of duty.
I stand humbled in their presence.
That line was corny to some who saw Saving Private Ryan, but it meant something to me.
Thank you sir. Thank you for posting that. It was totally unexpected. I wept when I read that, my body literally shaking to the point that I couldn't type or do much else. I took a brief walk through my silent house and then through teary eyes I copied that and sent it to my four sons.
I have a fading sign on my den wall. Tiny. Black and white. It says:
For those who fought for it...
Freedom has a flavor The Protected will never know.
I think it is time to take that little sign down now.
God bless.
Only by standing on your shoulders, can we who did not serve, see the horizon.
You deserve the distinction of honor that that sign conveys.
We cannot begin to understand, even though we stand in silence and appreciation today, and every day.
John Bernard Martin II, F-8J ramp strike South China Sea, Oct 1970 (cousin);
Eric Hertzberg, Marine, shot by sniper in Anbar 2006 (nephew);
LT Kercher,LT Brown, LT Pies, PO Snyder, PO Watson, SN Smith (PO Huff survives),
Guys I couldn't get to in time flying: (VMA-533)Cox, Shindelheim, Gonzalez;
Guys I couldn't find: Hebdon, Sully;
Guys gone in the flash of an eye: (USS Ranger) MM1 Johnson, MM3 Stomer, BT3 Teichert, MM3 Williams, FN Cochran, FN Chappell (All Saints' Day 1983),
Guys that didn't make it out of their sub I was working: LT Everts, PO3 Lindgren, PO1 Bordelon;
Guy who survived the enemy, died of cancer, Mike Marcino.
Our prayers are with you and your families.