The 2012 Summer Season is upon us. As we prepare to kick off the unofficial start to summer, with family and friends, please remember the true meaning of this sacred day.

Memorial Day is for the remembrance of our men and women who have fought and died for our country and to protect our way of life. They are the fallen gatekeepers - the true hero's of our freedoms.

Freedom comes at a price - it has never been free, many have paid "The Ultimate Price" for our liberties! Their sacrifice shouldn't be delegated to a day, or a long weekend, it should be remembered on a daily basis. God Bless our Fallen Patriots, the United States Military, our Allies, and other unsung heroes both here and abroad.

And a big THANK YOU to all of our active and retired military vets.

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From wikipedia:
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 28 in 2012). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the civil war), it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action.

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quote:

Memorial Day is for the remembrance of our men and women who have fought and died for our country and to protect our way of life. They are the fallen gatekeepers - the true hero's of our freedoms.

So we don't forget! Thank you Bill/NY

Thanks Bill. What a great tribute.

That's a nice tribute. Could somebody come up with Ronald Reagans Memorial Day comment? I saw it recently and it was very true.

Found it!
"It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars afar away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives, the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember " -Ronald Reagan

quote:

Found it!

Thanks Danny! We are the benefitiaries of those sacrifices. We too must protect those rights and freedoms they fought for, maybe in not as gallant a manner but by being aware of and opposing those who wish to subvert, destroy and eliminate those very benefits we so casually enjoy.
God bless all those who have served and those now serving .

It was a privilege to have served.

CAPT (SW) USNR, retd
7/5/60-7/31/94

As I told the brother to the Westpoint Commander of my BCT company some years after he died in the TET, there is a river of blood that flows around our borders. It was bought for those who fought in all wars on our behalf for our freedom. Never take those sacrifices for granted. Whether it be that they died or fought in battle and had to deal with fear, bravery, sadness at the loss of a buddy, separation from family or just being away from family in a sub or on an outpost, we owe them all and their families.

Tom
94 mystery Barth

Thank you to all the Veterans that have allowed me to have my freedom.

When I was a boy and then as a young man, each Memorial Day, I was dispatched to the Sewickley, Pa. cemetery to place flowers on the graves of those that were in my family who had died fighting for not just the United States, but freedom for the entire world. It left an indelible memory. Why have I not suggested that my sons and daughters do the same? How quickly we forget. We should each expect our children to do the same things that our parents expected us to do.
Jim Bianchi Captain, Infantry, USAR, Retired

Gosh, Rusty, 34 years Fantastic
Jim

Sometimes we all forget, we lay on the beaches that soldiers died on and walk across bridges that were heavily fought over and look at peaceful meadows that once were torn up battlefields. I have visited some of the places and the cemetaries around Nijmegen and it is a sombering experience. You think what could that 19 year old could have become, what were his dreams and hopes. Thank you is sometimes not enough. Doris