If I were more eloquent I could express these feelings much better...as it is I can only try in the best way I know how.This has absolutely nothing to do with the hobby in which we are all engaged in one form or another; it has nothing to do with "specials" that I've seen posted here & on other boards.  What it IS may seem corny to many, perhaps even to most..but I somehow feel compelled to say it nonetheless.The approaching holiday is Memorial Day.  Its meaning is, I fear, lost on many.  It was designated as a time set aside to honor those who have served this country by their military service, particularly those who paid the "ultimate sacrifice" in that service.  It is not merely a time for a paid day off from work, or for getting together with friends or family to enjoy the beginning of summer...not even to begin a vacation.  It should be much more than that.  It should be a time to say a "thank you" to all those who have served...in whatever way we chose or can.  For those who have served, or those who have family members who did...who feel touched whenever hearing the haunting refrains of "Taps"...for those who have ever stood in Arlington Cemetary & felt both humbled & grateful almost beyond the ability of mere words to describe...you know as well as I what I'm attempting to say.   Regardless of whatever our individual views on politics or what may be wrong in this country, the freedom to express what we feel has only been made possible by those who have gone before us, as well as those who serve today in defense of those freedoms.  In various ways & to various degrees, I've known people from different nations all over the world.  What I've learned from them has only reinforced my opinion that, with all that I feel could be improved here, there is no other country in the world that I would realistically choose to live.    Many of this nation's conflicts have been unpopular ones.  Viet Nam is probably the most recent & best example of that.  Yet there were those who were against our involvement in both World Wars as well as Korea.  I neither argue in favor or against any of these, I would merely hope there are some among you would would find the time at some point to take a moment of serious reflection in appreciation of those who have by their efforts & sacrifices made it all possible.  Please remember that it has always been the politicians (of whatever nation) who have created the wars, never the common soldier...he/she is merely the one who was sent into harms way.I hope that I am not the only one to put all other things aside & take a moment to honor & salute our service men & women, they are most deserving of that.

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Every worker to the betterment of this world deserves to be honored ... some of us do it in quieter ways ... some in more painful, some in more dangerous, more exposed ways.  Hell, i sound and feel so ignorant...Honestly, I could never possibly fully appreciate the anguish of  those mothers and fathers who watched their sons rented from them for purposes of defending their country. Wishing for the  gratitude and pride they felt if/when their sons ever returned.  The torment of waiting. I would only hope to realize that the world (myself in this case) isn't so small as to disregard those who have been a huge part and sacrificed hugely, often quietly and without notice, and in some cases unjustly dishonored and/or tortured to death.  I could only hope to think I could imagine the anguish. But mostly the value of what you men gave and the pain you must keep dealing with, including lack of acknowledgement, appreciation...I am celebrating by dancing at an annual  Memorial Day salsa convention at LAX ... I LOVE to dance.  I wish to express the most joy I can in honor of the most sacrifice that makes this freedom possible for me in this country!  I dance and sing when I want to be happiy. Many sacrificed so I can.  So I will! I realize we as a country are again struggling economically. We rant about the legalities of  sex issues/ "the hobby"; but we get to play the music we want, we get to talk, listen to the howard sterns...we get to play music!  so many things,  a reminder.  Not to settle for less, but to realize and to appreciate the struggles. the quiet sacrifices. the accomplishments!Thank you, any and all gentlemen who served to make this country a better place for the rest of us to follow.  The struggle is neverending...but what has been given is inconceivable,  I will honor it without question.Warmest respect and regardsfelicia foxx--modified by feliciafoxx at Sat, May 26, 2001, 01:47:07

Just truly grateful.

Wolf,Your words and thoughts gave me the same tingly feeling down my spine as the first time I saw Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial in D.C. The inscribed names of 58,000 soldiers brought about an overwhelming clarity of the magnitude of men and women who give up their lives in war.In comparison, my sacrifices in life are small. I will always be grateful to these people.

who has wondered if the majority of our society today even has any clue as to the burden our servicemen and women face everyday to insure their freedom. While I am hopeful that someday the majority of our society will understand, I am not going to hold my breath for it, as I doubt I could last that long. Thanks for understanding our service and I am glad to have served you and the rest like you. I would do it again without hesitation.

Thank you Greywolf and everyone else who has served our country and those who continue to do so.You mentioned "I hope that I am not the only one to put all other things aside & take a moment to honor & salute our service men & women, they are most deserving of that. "You are not the only one.I was a peaceful protester of the Viet Nam war.  I marched many times against the war.  However I prayed even more times(daily) for the men and women that were over there and for their families.  I am not religious, but very spiritual, and in this sense it was easy for me to put aside my feelings about the war itself and focus on prayers and sending love for the people who fought for us. Those two things(war vs. men/women) are a universe apart.I am so sorry to those of you who fought the Vietnam war and were not given a heros' return when you came home.  It is a national shame how my fellow country men treated you when you came home.  But there were many of us who gave you a heros' 'welcome home' in our hearts, and those we got to personally welcome got a heroes welcome from us in all ways.Thank you to all of you for protecting us in all of the wars.  I will be forever grateful.May God bless all of you and keep you from harms way in the future.Susie

four of my childhood friends are there.  Regardless of one's views of America's involvement in the Vietnam War, the young men that went there did so in the service of this country.  Everyone that puts on that uniform does so and most do it with great honor.  We are still the only nation with a history of sending our youth around the world - not conquer, but free other peoples.My father is buried at Arlington National Cemetary.  During the 80's and early 90's I traveled to D.C. often.I didn't always get to Arlington; I never took to a trip (including rain, sleet and snow) that I didn't visit The Wall.Dad understands, I am quite sure.

I read your post late last night before I went to bed and spent a rather sleepless night thinking about your comments and my 80 y.o. father, a Navy veteran of WWII, and a conversation I had earlier in the day with a 25 y.o. woman (more on that in a minute).For years when I'd ask my father about the war, like so many veterans he'd invariably tell a story about his shipmates and some of the funny things that happen amongst the crew.   When I'd push for details about the action they experienced, the story would always veer off in some other direction- the typhoon with the 60 foot waves, or when they had to eat rice with maggots for 6 weeks when they couldn't get resupplied, or the 120 degree heat of the engine room that would cause you to pass out if you took a drink of cold water, and on and on. All interesting, but clearly not the whole story.Then one day he took out a book that he acted like he didn't know he had.  It was basicaly a "yearbook" for all who served on this particualr ship, with hundreds of photos taken by the ship's photographer.  And there it all was- a Kamikazee plane flying between the ship's stacks, torpedo trails that missed, splashes in the water from 12" shore batteries that went 30 yards too long.  I was incredulous and couldn't believe that he'd never told me any of this.  Then at age 78 with my prompting, he filled in the blanks by dictating 12 cassettes of his war memoirs because he realized the time to keep his experiences to himself was over, and the time to pass on the lessons learned had arrived.  I had tears in my eyes as I listened to these incredible events described as dispassionately as a documentary.   Things that he could tell the tape recorder that he could never tell us in person.  I think at that moment I started to understood my father for the first time and why his generation felt so uncomfortable being called heros, and largely shunned adulation.  Heros and glory are for those seeking gain, and these men were "just doing their duty."  Four words that speak volumes.   Four words that belie the unspoken pain, lost commrades and sacrifice of the hundreds of thousands who lost their lives or were wounded.   We are the only country that has repeatedly fought to free, not conquer.  And our military has always been made of people who seek to serve rather than rule.  Common citizens united in the defense of freedom.  It may sound corny; it's not.So where are such people today?  Well, fortunately they're still with us, but invisible to most Americans.  They are in Taegu, and Okinawa, and 500 feet beneath the North Atlantic, and on a carrier in the Persian Gulf, or a radar station in the middle of nowhere- right now, today, while we enjoy burgers and beer celebrating a long weekend that we mostly forget why it's a holiday.    Because while the GI generation may have been special, they were not unique.  The millions of men and women who continue in their tradition do so not for personal gain (it's a joke what they get paid and how they live), but for the same reaons every citizen soldier has served since the revolution- they were needed.In 1969 I was in a real quandry over the Viet Nam war, I asked my father what he thought I should do about the draft.  I was in engineering school and was worried about losing my student deferment.  I wanted to control my own destiny so I asked him whether he thought I should go to Navy Officer Candidate School (and serve for 4 or 6 years), or just enlist and serve for two years.  He paused for a moment and simply said "Nobody is better off for having gone to war."   I just stood there and looked at him in disbelief.  What kind of answer was that, I thought?  I had never asked him for any advice in my life, and now when I do he tells me that? He might as well have said "Life is like an oatcake."  But 32 years later I realize that was really all that needed to be said.  So to finish this long story, yesterday I told the 25 y.o. physical therapist that was helping me with a back injury that I always call my father on Memorial Day and thank him for "just doing his duty" for four years.  This woman then  told me that her grandfather was wounded at Peral Harbor and she was going to see the movie.  She then asked me "What war was that anyway?   Which war did we fight Germany?"  I actually thought she was joking at first, but then realized she was serious.  When I said World War II, she said "Yeah, that's the one."  To punctuate my disappointment in our schools, she told me her very own grandmother emmigrated from West Germany after her city had been flattened during the war!  Yet this young woman didn't have the vaguest idea as to why.  That my friends is why we take time to remember.To all those who have served in both peace and war, you have my gratitude, respect and thanks this Memorial Day and every other day.Sincerely,G2  --modified by G2 at Sat, May 26, 2001, 18:52:12--modified by G2 at Sat, May 26, 2001, 19:14:25

I myself am going out to Rosecrans tommorow to visit my Grandparents. People take for granted all that we have as US citizen's. People think Jehovah's Witnesses are annoying sometimes, but without them many of our First Ammendment rights wouldn't be there today. Just like the Armed Forces,we have what we have because of those before us.             Semper Fi                  CD

Greywolf,Thank you. You said it just perfectly and it was very touching. I couldn't have said it better nor would I want to.  I, too, get a lump in my throat as I contemplate the pecious gift we have been so freely given.  Corny??  Not on your life!!  Yes, this is the time to reflect on the gifts we have been given by a simple accident of birth.  People really don't realize what we have here.  We seem to learn only when we lose it.The heroic men and women who fought in WWII and gave and the ultimate sacrifice should be remembered if only for tomorrow. They died so that we could be free. I have heard it said "we have the worst system on earth except for any other one. But for them, we would be living a very different lives. Thank God for them.  Viet Nam, our terrible war, was a total shame.  I remember when the men came home, bloodied and beaten, they were welcomed with great insult to add to their horrible pain. Nevertheless, they answered the call, notwithstanding any political point of view. A bullet is still bullet. Fortunately, times have changed and we now recognizing them to be the heros that they are.God bless them, and all you good frends out there.  When I hear the National Anthem, my eyes swell with tears.  I get a lump in my throat and I feel so proud and greatful to be counted as one of you.  Americans.Corny?  Not on your life, Greywolf!!! I am with you!!!I now reflect on every American who has ever fought in any warand I feel greatful.Thanks again, Greywolf,The Jet Jocky

Well said Felicia. eom

eom

Fairest Felicia,The reason that those who "gave the last full measure of devotion" is the very reason that you state and that is that you celebrate.  I for one have lost several to service to country as well as serving in a government job for a little while and I can tell you that the sacrifice made were made so that all free people have the opportunity to celebrate in whatever form they choose.  I am certain my brother, uncle, and my cousin all would have loved to see you dance.--JP

G2,As I mentioned in another post.  I spend every Memorial Day with my son  at the National Cemetery where I live.  He is six and just last fall stood on an American beach on the shores of the English Channel -- yes if blood can buy anything it has certainly bought our country that beach.  And as he stood on the shores in the National Cemetery for Americans who died at D-Day and the subsequent battles, and touched the gravestone of his Great Uncle I saw in someone so young a look that I hope not see again because he turned to his grandmother and said of us great uncle" I never got to say thank you". So G2, I can promise you that at least one person will not grow to be the 25 year PT who did not know of the Second World War and its cost and its causes.  And who will remember the gift of duty that your father and all the fathers and mothers of this country who served and what they gave to our country--JP--modified by JP at Mon, May 28, 2001, 14:31:24

Greywolf,I spend this Memorial Day like I have all my others as long as I can remember and that is with a trip of remembrance to a National Cemetery.  I spent this year in particular with my son who has gone every Memorial day since his birth at National Cemetery because he has several relatives and close family friends who "gave the last full measure of devotion" to this country and this is our way of saying thank you.As G2, notes ours is the odd country to fight wars for liberation and not conquest and standing in a foreign country at a U.S. National Cemetery will bring that fact home to you and certainly will make you appreciate the sacrifice that not only the soldiers made but their families.  One of the most sobering things to see at the U.S. Cemetery in Normandy at the site of the D-day invasion is the grave stone marker for unknown soldiers.  As my son put it “someone’s Daddy never knew what happened to them” That is a cost born by the families.I was most lucky that my tour with the Government did not ask that of me although it surely did try several times but the simple fact is that I will never know what the men and women who paid that ultimate price for my freedom went through.  So the least I can do is remember them and teach my children to do the same.  It is good to know someone of your caliber, as well as so many others in the TER community have also not forgotten.--JP--modified by JP at Mon, May 28, 2001, 15:04:18--modified by JP at Tue, May 29, 2001, 11:47:59

Hi,That was beautiful.  I was watching the Jay Leno show the other night and he was asking some young people questions about WWII.  Their answers were so hilarious but it was a comedy show right?  On the flip side it was so sad.  None of them knew when Pearl Harbor happened ... they didn't even know Hitler’s first name.  I had mixed emotions... ok... I am watching a comedy and so yes it was so funny; their answers where hilarious like they thought that George was Hitler's first name.  I was almost ashamed of myself for enjoying the comedy.  Then I was talking to my mother later about it... and she filled in some of the facts that I didn't know about Pearl Harbor.  In my opinion I think that our government did the Navy a huge disservice in Pearl Harbor.  I saw the movie twice this weekend... what a great movie!  It is sad because most people think of this weekend as having beers with friends and having the extra day off from work.  I have served in the military and came close to being shipped off to the Gulf.  Many of my close friends went and the stories that they had to tell when they came back where amazing.  That was the only war that I saw first hand and how I worried about my friends that were over there.  My eyes were glued to the television coverage the whole time.After watching the movie Pearl Harbor it just reminded me all the more of how thankful we should be to those who have served for our freedom.  Thank you!XXXOOO Ashley

Thanks goes not only to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice but also to those like you who served in uniform.  Of course Veteran's Day is supposedly for that but I am a firm believer in that just one day is not enough.  So remember my dear Ashley you and all of the men and women of our country who honor duty and sacrifice to make keep our country free and to make it a better place deserve thanks.And it seems in more ways than one.  JP--modified by JP at Mon, May 28, 2001, 15:30:41

It's good that the subsequent generations forget the hate and anger held by the combatants of previous wars.  One of the truly remarkable things about this country is how well we do that. In 1947 the Berlin Airlift saved our former enemies from starving to death and laid the foundation of stability and affluence in a country that could have been left as a burned-out crater.  The value of forgetting past hatred can be seen today (in the inverse) in the Middle East.Having said that, the value of remembering is even more important because otherwise the lessons are lost to history, and of course, there's always another despot waiting in the wings.   I've seen "Jaywalking" too and it is truly amazing.  A friend of mine is a professor in So. Cal. and she made all of her students go to the Simon Wiesenthal Museum because she found out that half of her class had never heard of the holocaust and didn't believe her when she talked about it!  This wasn't a history class, but she was so shocked she made all of them prove that they'd gone to the museum as a requirement for passing the course.  So while I'm glad we don't teach hatred like many societies, we should never forget to teach history.--modified by G2 at Mon, May 28, 2001, 18:48:58

...I want to sincerely thank each one of you.  Many of your comments were very poignant.  Frankly, I was concerned that my original message would be dismissed by most as patriotic drivel.  It's very gratifying to know that patriotism hasn't "gone out of style"...hopefully it never will.  Again, thank you.