Memorial Day

[ajbera]

...

[Kuciwalker]

My great-uncle was a marine. He was at Iwo Jima - my mom said he never would tell them about it, because it was so horrible.

My grandfather was in the Navy, but the war was over before he finished training.

Memorial Day

[Joseph]

My brother was in the PI, he was loaded on a ship twice to go north, but they droped the bomb and ended WW II. His son was in Vietnam. My brother grandson flew a Black Hawk in Iraq during the invasion. All of them are still alive.
I was discharge some 90 days before my ship went to Nam. Just luck I guess.

A lot good kids were not so lucky.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
My great-uncle was a marine. He was at Iwo Jima - my mom said he never would tell them about it, because it was so horrible.

My dad was in the Philippines....again, jungle fighting....horrible....he almost never talked about it, then only briefly...my mom passed on some of the gory stuff he told her...picking up his best friend and putting the pieces in a basket...couple of times, mom had to grab him to keep him from jumping out of the car at the sound of a backfire.

[Slaughtermeyer]

If you are able, save for them a place Inside of you,

And one backward glance when you are leaving, for the places they can no longer go,

Be not ashamed to say you loved then, Though you may or may not always have,

Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with Your own,

And in that time when men decide, and feel safe, to call the war insane,

Take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.


Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 Jan 1970, Dak To, Vietnam

KIA 24 Mar 1970, Cambodia

[chequita guevara]

My mother just found a poem written by her Uncle Jack, my deceased grandmother's younger brother. It was an antiwar poem, about his not wanting to go to fight in WWII. He did though. He piloted a B-24 Liberator bomber over Germany. His plane was shot down and his whole crew parachuted to the ground, where he was killed by a mob of German farmers. The Nazis saved the rest of the crew.

[Hueij]

Margraten War Cemetery... Thanks guys.

[our_man]

Originally posted by Pekka
Ar cnoc fÃor-uaithne
gar do na scamaill bán,
sÃnim amach is teagmhaÃm
anaim na gcéadta ó shin:
cogarnaÃonn siad dom chroà -
scéalta a streachailt
muÃneann siad a sean-shlithe dom,
go n-oibrÃodh racht ionam
an troid a choimeád suas -
go mbeinn in ann fógairt
" seo é do lá, m'Éireann dÃlis -
faoi dheireadh tá tú saor "

What's this Pekka? I recognize that it's Irish, but what's it from.

The last two lines are something like 'this is your day Ireland, under (late?) you are dear'. Man, I had no idea my Irish is so rusty.

[Dis]

it's no longer memorial day. And isn't that a U.S. specific holiday anyways?

[Pekka]

our_man, yes it's Gaelic.

Here is the translation:

on a green green hill
close to the white clouds
I reach out and touch
the spirits of centuries gone by
to my heart they whisper
tell me of their struggles
teach me their ancient ways
stir in me a passion
to carry on the fight
until I can proclaim
your day has finally come
you are at last free
my beloved eire