President Obama honors fallen soldiers in weekly address
President Obama devoted his weekly address to those who have given their lives in service to the country.This weekend also reminds us that, around the world, our men and women in uniform continue to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I didn't serve in Vietnam for freedom...
or liberty, or the flag.I didn't serve for the reasons people think of when they tell me, "Thanks for your service."I knew that this war was not about any of that stuff.I served for 365 days and a wake...
View ArticleIt's Memorial Day...and I miss my Dad.
My Dad didn't die in battle, nor did he die while on active duty. He passed away just eight years ago, at the age of 80; that was almost four decades after his retirement from active military service....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Original Americans forgotten on Memorial Day
The All-Nations Native American Veterans Memorial in Jefferson, Oregon[This is an edited and updated reprise of an essay first written for Memorial Day in 2010.]My stepfather's brother died with other...
View ArticleWhen American troops were welcomed and remembered
with love and honorcan be seen in a a piece in today's Washington Post titled Americans gave their lives to defeat the Nazis. The Dutch have never forgotten.It is about an American cemetery in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Street Prophets Coffee Hour: Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. -...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I've witnessed your suffering as the battles raged higher
While it is fitting to remember and mourn those who were lost in our wars, the majority of the graves with all those little flags placed on them are those who survived. Unfortunately for many they got...
View ArticleTwo ordinary Marines who I call Mom and Dad
Memorial Day Monday, Decoration Day, a tradition and an observance that began back after the Civil War when freed slaves decorated the graves of deceased Union soldiers. To some it is the first...
View ArticleA Lifetime Of War
Last week the Washington Post ran a blog post titled "Washington Post Story: Here’s how much of your life the United States has been at war." The author Philip Bump, used a chart to show the...
View ArticleThank You to my Family Who Served Their Country
On this Memorial Day I am remembering the members of my immediate family who served in the Armed Forces.
View ArticleA Memorial Day Tribute to Vietnam Vets
A solemn and respectful Memorial Day tribute to all your fallen brothers at arms and mine, who's names appear on The Wall. May we never forget them, as they rest in peace.
View ArticleWhy We Fight
On this Memorial Day, I found an interesting video on the causes of World War II. They argue that, if anything, WW II was more about access to food than anything else. (the video is at...
View ArticleA Thought on Memorial Day
Today we pause to remember and thank all of the men and women who laid down their lives in service to our country. Every young life cut short is a tragedy. Every body in a flag-draped casket is cause...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Part of My Uncle Died in the Vietnam Jungle: Not All Who Die from War Die...
Not until daybreak on the second day of the battle did a helicopter manage to land and evacuate the few survivors, leaving behind the bodies of most of Supply Column 21.There were 564 dead Viet Cong...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Day of Freedom But Not Freedom From Pain
Today is Memorial Day. This is a day to pay tribute to all of those who have laid down their life in the ongoing fight for freedom. These people have given their all for us. They believed in our...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Memorium
Every Memorial Day I try to think of those who lost their lives in service to our country, but I can never focus on abstract deaths, nor on so many. I always end up thinking about fellow servicemen who...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Memorial Day Wish
Memorial Day is observed in remembrance of the Americans who have died fighting for their country. Serving in the armed forces is not an easy task even when the nation is at peace, and in wartime, an...
View ArticleMemorial Day: Kuzminsky, a poet
"Look, man," this Rasputin look alike in a thick brown robe lectured, as he held up the little rubber spider that he had ordered, and which had just come in the mail along with belly button brushes and...
View ArticleA Chiseled Stone in a Field of Bone Makes Note of a Soul of Late
What follows is a Memorial Day poem I wrote driving from home to St. Louis the day my father's tombstone was placed on his grave. He was a Marine in WWII and died the day after Christmas from a seizure...
View Article