Memorial Day

[IrishTex]

Since it's about time for Memorial Day again, I just wanted to share some video I was able to shoot 2 years ago on Memorial Day when I went out to the National Cemetary in Dallas. I want to thank every veteran I can and I most especially want to pay respect to every service person that paid the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B85NtUTydkM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m13bPdXvy8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1843n9H5Oc

Thanks to all VETERANS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XiuZRb_4UU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOSYcYDl8f4

[MUSTANG69]

Originally posted by IrishTex
Since it's about time for Memorial Day again, I just wanted to share some video I was able to shoot 2 years ago on Memorial Day when I went out to the National Cemetary in Dallas. I want to thank every veteran I can and I most especially want to pay respect to every service person that paid the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B85NtUTydkM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m13bPdXvy8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1843n9H5Oc

Thanks to all VETERANS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XiuZRb_4UU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOSYcYDl8f4

+1

[LE Dad]

Thank you one and all...and say a prayer for all who are no longer with us. God bless all still in harms way.

[ronwx5x]

Last year I visited the VA Memorial Cemetary here in Houston on Memorial Day and thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope to go again this year, but with out of town guests coming I'll have to play it by ear.

[sinton66]

I've only been to a National Cemetary once, when my brother was buried in the one outside of Phoenix. Just seeing this place was a humbling experience. It will definitely leave an impression on you.

[ronwx5x]

Originally posted by sinton66
I've only been to a National Cemetary once, when my brother was buried in the one outside of Phoenix. Just seeing this place was a humbling experience. It will definitely leave an impression on you.

Sorry about your brother. This might be a good time to go again. I have no relatives buried in the one here in Houston but I do like to pay my respects.

[Farmersfan]

It is the
VETERAN,
not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.


It is
the VETERAN,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.



It is
the VETERAN,
not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

[ronwx5x]

This is an email I received. I don't know who the author is but thought it is appropriate.

Six Boys And Thirteen Hands...
Each year I am hired to go to Washington , DC , with the eighth grade class from Clinton, WI , where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.
On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave soldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima , Japan , during WW II.
Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, 'Where are you guys from?'
I told him that we were from Wisconsin ...'Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story.'
(James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to his dad, who had passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up.. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington , DC , but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night.)
When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his words that night.)
'My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin ...My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called 'Flags of Our Fathers' which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me.
'Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game called 'War.' But it didn't turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because there are people who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old - and it was so hard that the ones who did make it home never even would talk to their families about it.
(He pointed to the statue) 'You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire . If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph...a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. It was just boys who won the battle of Iwo Jima ... Boys. Not old men.
'The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the 'old man' because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country.' He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers.'
'The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona...Ira Hayes was one who walked off Iwo Jima...He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero'. He told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?'
So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes carried the pain home with him and eventually died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32 (ten years after this picture was taken).
'The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky . A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night.' Yes, he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. Those neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.
'The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley, from Antigo, Wisconsin , where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad never fished or even went to Canada . Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell 's soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press.

'You see, like Ira Hayes, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima , they writhed and screamed, without any medication or help with the pain.
'When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.'
'So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima , and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time.'
Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.
We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice.
Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Terrorism and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our freedom.
Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray for those still in murderous unrest around the world.
STOP and thank God for being alive and being free at someone else's sacrifice.
God Bless You and God Bless America ...
REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's going to be a great day.
One thing I learned while on tour with my 8th grade students in DC that is not mentioned here is...that if you look at the statue very closely and count the number of 'hands' raising the flag, there are 13. When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply said the 13th hand was the hand of God.

[IrishTex]

The Marines (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwY67LYzH7Q)

Army Rangers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K737kqz7ktg)

Navy Seals (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFXNyqhEHR8)

Air Force (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZtRtM-FzFA)

Coast Guard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbHEp42vTEs)

[AP Panther Fan]

Originally posted by sinton66
I've only been to a National Cemetary once, when my brother was buried in the one outside of Phoenix. Just seeing this place was a humbling experience. It will definitely leave an impression on you.

My youngest daughter was able to go to Washington DC during spring break. They visited Arlington Cemetary and had the honor of placing a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier. It had a profound effect on her.

I, on the other hand, have never been able to go. :(

Happy Memorial Day and thanks to those who serve (past, present, future) in order to preserve our freedom.

[IrishTex]

An excellent video

http://www.nragive.com/ringoffreedom/index.html

[IrishTex]

I'm out to watch some baseball.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! (http://lewp.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/to-honor-the-fallen/)