Triumphrat

wonderdog · 05-29-2006

To all who served and those who serve today, this country owes you much. Thank you.
To those who made the ultimate sacrifice, my prayers are with you and your families.

With great respect,
Dennis

[ This message was edited by: wonderdog on 2006-05-29 10:38 ]

RT · 05-29-2006

May we never forget.

Several years ago I was in Washington with my father-in-law on business. We had some time so I took him down to the Vietnam Memorial. This was a moving experience for both of us. He served two tours in Vietnam and lost several close friends. We stopped by the books at the end of the memorial which list the location of the names on the wall. As he flipped through the book he started to tell stories about the guys he knew. This is something he had never done in the past. Couldn't tell you how long we were there before walking down to the wall. We found the name of his very close friend (one of my brother-in-laws is named after him) and just stood there for awhile. We did a tracing of the name and headed off to our appointment. Think that one visit had an impact on both of us. Since then he talks about his experiences while serving in Vietnam.

CarlS · 05-29-2006

Thank you for your post, Wonderdog.

I add my thanks to all who have served and are currently serving. With sadness, I remember friends and comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice. "All gave some and some gave all." A special thank you to those of my dad's generation, WWII, whose numbers are rapidly dwindling. Y'all made the world a better place for me. Salute!

Copper · 05-29-2006

The Man in the Arena

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by the dust and the sweat and the blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievment, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt 1910

In memory of those who gave it all in the service of freedom.

Rest easy, brothers.

Hitch · 05-29-2006

Very well put, Copper. Teddy sure had a way with words...

"...we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Abraham Lincoln -- Gettysburg Address, 1863.

dcpyatt · 05-29-2006

Words can never express the true feelings, so I will leave it at a simple THANK YOU & GODSPEED 'til we meet again.

Bryan · 05-29-2006

My thanks to all you soldiers who served past and present. My wife and I have been to The Wall RT. You can't get the full impact of what was done there until you walk down in to it and experience the emotion around you. If any of you go to D.C. please pay homage there. You won't ever forget it. Here's a pic of my father and his gun crew during WWII. He was the Capitan of the gun. He is wearing the large helmet with headphones in it and is standing in the back. God rest his sole.

cobra935o · 05-29-2006

Nice picture, I wish I had some action photos like that with my grandfathers from WWII.

Thanks grandpa Jensen and Ion, US Navy, WWII
Thanks dad, US Army, 82nd Airborne, Vietnam

Nathan

hendog · 05-29-2006

Memorial Day is more than just a day off or 20% off at your local K-Mart. It's about remembering those who gave all for us. As someone who served 25 years with the U.S. Air Force, I will never forget what those who serve do for us everyday.

MSgt (Ret) Mike Henderson, USAF 1980-2005
Desert Storm, Bosnia, IRAQI Freedom