Memorial Day

[KQ]

Interesting factoid I never really thought about:

The difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day:

Memorial Day: Celebrated the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is the holiday set aside to pay tribute to those who died serving in the military.

The website for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs recounts the start of Memorial Day this way:

"Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans -- the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) -- established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country."

The passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971 by Congress made it an official holiday.




Veterans Day: This federal holiday falls on November 11 and is designated as a day to honor all who have served in the military. According to Military.com, Veterans Day began as Armistice Day to honor the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918.

"In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress -- at the urging of the veterans service organizations -- amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting the word "Veterans," the site says. "With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars."

[wooley12]

[Talisman]

Not KIA, but my now deceased dad who was a Army Air Corps navigator in the 5th Air Force. The first picture is after OCS and in the second he is in the center with his air crew after retaking Manila in March 1945

[Bunion 2020]

Not to get all weepy and shit but that was really such a different generation and time.

Young men sent to far away places and taking on responsibilities none of us can even imagine.

The end of the Draft was the end of so much more, now we can leave service to the Professionals who "want" to go to war.

[wooley12]

A bump is a bump.

Spc. Miguel Holmes

Died May 6, 2019 Serving During Operation Freedom’s Sentinel
22, of Hinesville, Georgia, died May 6, 2019, of wounds suffered in a non-combat incident in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Holmes was assigned to 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team out of Savannah, Georgia. The cause of death is under investigation.

[SB]

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poe...landers-fields

[old goat]

The best way to honor and remember the war dead is to make sure that the next soldier who dies in battle dies for a damn good reason.

[wooley12]

Thank you for your sacrifice, Wallace. It is a beautiful day here in the PNW on this Memorial Day. I tried to find the son that you never got a chance to see to give him your picture. They named him Wallace Jr in your honor. Sadly, I was a couple of years late but maybe you know that now. I would have told him about his dad's war experiences and how much he was loved and respected by his band of brothers.

[wooley12]

[mcski]

[SumJongGuy]

My kids at my dad's marker in Arlington 4 years ago. His death was ruled combat related, but long after he retired. Complications.. He also served in Vietnam, was still in war college, officer training at the end of WWII, not really a WWII vet...Gonna get that corrected when my mom passes and I start up a new dialogue with them to have her ashes added to the grave there.



Last time they saw him they were very small toddlers and he gave them MnMs..

My grandfather is also buried at Arlington. He was the Artillery Commander for the 12th Armored Division during WWII.

[mcski]

My Uncle's posthumous Purple Heart. He was KIA preparing to parachute behind the lines when his company's glider was shot down on D-Day

[m2711c]

Never forget.

[SB]

To defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic

[glademaster]

I have very mixed feelings and memorializing someone who died in that role. John Brown is a hero. Leave it to you to post something controversial in a thread designed to commemorate those who sacrificed.

[Core Shot]

Respect and honor for The dead. But I’m so tired of the post 911 ooh rah ‘merica fuck yah jingoistic bullshit.

War sucks. Bankers suck and politicians suck the most.

Every modern war has been pointless. Unless you like dead humans and war profiteering.

Even some of the old wars make no sense.

Smedley Butler gets my vote.

[wooley12]

[Norseman]

right on time:

[riser4]

I wonder if that Rob guy from Boston is up on Mt Washington today for the 10th Mountain memorial slalom. I used to enjoy the trip reports on ttips.

[riser4]

Glademaster and SB are both tone deaf today.

[wooley12]

Sgt. Charles A. Wolcott, 10th Mountain Division, 85th Regiment Company L, KIA, Italy, January 30, 1945

[old goat]

My dad lost a cousin during the battle of the bulge. 20 years later his parents--my great aunt and uncle--talked about him constantly. It's a wound that never heals.
My dad made it through ok, thanks to Truman and the bomb. Dad was supposed to be in the first invasion wave of the Japanese mainland. As a lab tech, to test the water for poison.

[riser4]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/25/polit...ide/index.html

[irul&ublo]

Ivan Cregger, a World War II veteran who now lives in Burbank, remarkably survived the Ploesti Air Raid in 1943. - https://abc7.com/community-events/bu...ar-ii/5134487/


My great uncle. Still living, gotta be close to 100. Video worth watching

My uncle mert went across France and fought in the battle of the bulge

My dad volunteered when Korea started, figuring he was going to get drafted. He ended up in Alaska for about 3 years

[wooley12]

My wife's cousin went MIA on the Eastern Front. He was in the SS. This is a day to honor the war dead