Posted on 05/27/2007 6:26:16 AM PDT by captjanaway
Today, only a small number of Americans have known anyone personally who died fighting for our country, but I have. My war was the Vietnam War, and I was a Vietnam wife, so I knew quite a few.
My husband at the time did not die in Vietnam, although he certainly was keenly aware of the dangers ahead of him when he accepted his NROTC scholarship. After he benefited from the Navy’s largesse that put him through four years at Dartmouth College, he was obliged to return to the Navy the four years that they’d invested to send him there. Very soon after graduation, our marriage, and officer’s training school, he was sent to Vietnam. He fought there as a Marine Corps captain and as a tank platoon commander for the requisite 13 months. Seeing a lot of action and unconscious for one whole Christmas, he was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star and then came home. There were many times afterwards that his tortured nightmares jolted us awake in the middle of the night and I thought at the time that he was dying too, a thousand little deaths, one at a time. While I thank God he survived, our marriage, regrettably, could not.
(Excerpt) Read more at familysecuritymatters.org ...
Special Memorial Day ping.
They don't allow suicides at Arlington for a reason - he besmirched his comrades. Not only that, but he took her life too. Why didn't the loser just off himself?
Excellent story -it seems that so many forget why we have Memorial Day...
Moina Michael
“To you from failing hands we throw the Torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders Fields.”
“We Shall Not Sleep” (later named “In Flanders Fields”) by Canadian Army doctor John McCrae.
WE SHALL KEEP THE FAITH
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.
We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a luster to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.
And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.
[It stirred me then ...it stirs me now.]
Lovely memory, thank you for sharing it. Also tells of a kinder, more patriotic time.
.
Bump -
I didn’t realize the 80 flags I set out at the graves yesterday were 80 out of 3,000. 3,000 flags flying at one small town site. Oh to be in DC would have been a sight.
Thank you US Military...past, present, and future.
Thank you so much for the ping!
It must have been a sight to behold.
Quiet, and peace when day is done. A soft deepening of the cloudless sky. The far off cry of a bird, telling its mate, To Rest.
A thought, of cherished ones finishing their daily chores. In the soft stillness of eventide, To Rest.
Children, whose drowsy heads fall, until their mothers breasts. While sift lullabies are crooned . To lull them gently off to sleep and rest.
A memory, of day that long ago brought strife and fear. Of hearts that dared hope and yet feared.Till a bugle called them all, To Rest.
A dream, now fulfilled, contentment, and a smiling God. Who knows when two are sealed as one. And thank him for-the blessings bestowed and the chance To Rest.
A look, of two whose hearts entwined together. Carrying the sweet message of love and understanding. No longer apart only ever closer. Till the final day comes. To Rest.
Pfc. Frank H Ware Jr.
Hospital #2 Ward 42
March 11,1943
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.