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Memorial Day

Ski&ride

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Time to add the “essential workers” in this “war on virus” to the list?

(I work in one such “essential business”, though fortunately I can do my work at home. I know of colleagues who came down with the disease. No death, thank god)
 

Uncle-A

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These are sobering figures. We are headed back to our small military cemetery today. We can never repay them and we should never forget.
View attachment 103184
I don't know about the other wars but the Vietnam War was somewhere between 56K to 58K and I never saw a number close to 90K I would question that number.
 

Tim Hodgson

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Ask a person what he or she is willing to die for, and I will tell you what they love.

In 1775, at the Second Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry declared his love for this Country:

"Give me liberty, or give me death!"

The men who signed the Declaration of Independence had very few illusions about what they were risking when on July 2, 1776 the Continental Congress passed a resolution affirming that the states were independent of the British crown by signing their names below this statement:

"We Mutually Pledge To Each Other Our Lives, Our Fortunes And Our Sacred Honor"

This Day we Memorialize by remembering all those who died to keep this Country free from tyrants.

Can we truly Honor the sacrifice if we are not ourselves willing to die for the freedom they so Honorably fought to pass on to us?
 
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Bad Bob

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I don't know about the other wars but the Vietnam War was somewhere between 56K to 58K and I never saw a number close to 90K I would question that number.
From the article these numbers came from they were counting ALL military deaths accidents, murders suicides, agree that 90 sounds high but that chart does pass along the concept.
 

crgildart

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I don't know about the other wars but the Vietnam War was somewhere between 56K to 58K and I never saw a number close to 90K I would question that number.
People who died later, even much later from PTSD related illnesses are counted as combat fatalities on official rolls.
 

KingGrump

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I don't know about the other wars but the Vietnam War was somewhere between 56K to 58K and I never saw a number close to 90K I would question that number.

Screenshot (353).png


The total number of all casualties for all wars from the Vietnam war onward is 65,919. We passed that a while back.

The total number of all casualties for all wars after WWII is 102,684. We may surpass that by sometime next week.

I am afraid the featured singer of the Memorial day weekend is Lorelei rather than the Fat Lady.
 

locknload

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The most moving thing I've ever been to was a full honors burial at Arlington Cemetery...the dad of a close friend. I found myself sobbing uncontrollably for him and for every solider who has made the ultimate sacrifice. In these divided political times, I always remember that soldiers don't get to decide who, where and when to fight...they follow orders. For this reason, I will always pay deep respect to those who "gave the last full measure" regardless of whether I agree with a particular conflict.
 

coskigirl

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it has been years since I visited my grandparents’ grave at Fort Logan National Cemteary but they’ve been on my mind so I drove down today. It was an emotional visit for me for many reasons but hearing Taps and Amazing Grace played by a single trumpet somewhere else on the grounds took me back to my grandfather’s full honors burial in 1999. He may not have died in WWII but he suffered from PTSD his entire life. I miss them both so much.

7578517E-54AB-4299-A5F9-D1EE95535375.jpeg 98ED887C-526D-4281-B9D8-70F1B169D5DD.jpeg
 
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Kyle

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Thanks for bumping the thread and for all the prior thoughts and sentiments.

From Normandy (all Omaha Beach Memorial except last photo) _MG_7580.jpg _MG_7582.jpg _MG_7584.jpg _MG_7650.jpg :
 

pete

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Memorial Day and Veteran's are days that I always put aside a bit of time specific to give thanks.

(Thanks @T-Square)
 

Andy Mink

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One of the most sobering/good things I've seen: When I worked for Washoe County Parks, the Traveling Vietnam Wall was stationed at my park. In and of itself, it is impressive as a smaller replica of the Wall in D.C. Many, many people came to see it; families, brothers and sisters in arms, students, and Joe Everyday. Many came in the night when they could be alone with their thoughts. Rubbings of names were made and flowers, photos, and memorabilia left.

But perhaps the most visibly, viscerally impacted group was the students. Busloads would come in and park away from the Wall. Laughing and joking (too cool for school), the students would meander closer and closer. As the dark wall gave way to dark with white lines, the laughing and talking decreased. As the white lines turned into separate, smaller lines, even more quiet. Then, when the realization came that each one of those lines was a name, tens of thousands of names, silence fell. They say a picture is worth a thousand words; 60,000 names is far more powerful. For those who haven't lost loved ones or lived through war time, that number is hard to grasp when read in a book. For true realization, one needs a photo. Or a wall.

Thank you to all our military members who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
 

BTaylor

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One of the most sobering/good things I've seen: When I worked for Washoe County Parks, the Traveling Vietnam Wall was stationed at my park.

I remember the controversy when the Vietnam Memorial design competition---a blind judging of more than 1,000 design proposals---was won by a 21-year old Chinese-American architecture student at Yale, Maya Lin.

My father-in-law (RIP) was at that time a retired Navy Admiral, had commanded cruisers during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and he initially felt the Memorial would be experienced as an insult to our armed forces. His views changed 180 degrees once he saw the powerful effect of the built Memorial upon the thousands of returning Viet veterans, bereaved family members, or everyday citizens who daily visited the Memorial after its completion. Lots of tears and healing, IMO, takes place at that Wall.

Maya Lin: “I didn’t want to make something that said ‘They’ve gone away for a while.’ I wanted something that would just simply say ‘They can never come back. They should be remembered.’”
 

Tricia

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Memorial Day is next Monday. Always a day of thought for me.

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Honor to all who are lost.
I'm touched by the news segments throughout this weekend highlighting veterans who lost friends in battle. The stories are mezmerizing
 
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T-Square

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Terry
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I find I can be reflective and grateful for those who gave the last full measure, and also enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice. It’s not an either/or proposition.
Exactly.
 

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