One of the most profound moments of my life was visiting the Vietnam War memorial and seeing then names of people I knew. Another was visiting Gettysburg. You can feel what happened there 160 years later.
Gettysburg is exhibit one in what pisses me off about the reparations/oppressed by colonialists set. Name me another country in the last eleven millenia that sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives, from all backgrounds, to free slaves.
I visited Gettysburg some years ago, with my family and friends of ours. To me, Gettysburg is Holy Ground. Grey or Blue, they are Americans all, and sacrificed their lives in defense of their homelands and for freedom.
One thing I notice of our two day stay to our friends, who are of Chinese Ancestry but Americans by birth and life - we rarely saw any black families, perhaps seeing a handful, less than a dozen, during our stay. I thought, perhaps this was just an outlier from a short window of our time there, but I couldn't help thinking it might be something more pervasive because you, Mr. Lucas, and any honest-thinking American knows how powerful the anti-American narrative is, and has been, for our lives and longer.
Next time I go back, I will walk the battlefields, imagine myself on Little Round Top among the ranks of the Maine soldiers, or marching towards the Union lines on that fateful third day - and I will again say a silent prayer of gratitude for the men who died there and their own sacrifice.
When my children were young, we lived very close to a cemetary with a President's grave site. It is on a hill will acres of the remains from the Civil War on. The WWI side was the worst for me, men who had never left the county and then died in France. It should be a reminder of the next election. Are we willing to sacrifice?
The story of Garney Burleson is similar to the one told by Dan Sharphorn when he went to Detroit to pay his respects to Barry McGee's family. There was no picture nor rememberances of Barry anywhere in the family home. The grave was difficult to find - it was hidden by brush and shrubs.
Dan took time to clean up the gravesite and display flowers.
This reminder by the author gives me a fond memory of my HS math teacher's efforts to remind the kids on the Friday preceding Memorial Day of the purpose of the national day. There was no math lecture - the class was started by Mr. Wilhelm taking his dress coat off, standing on his chair and then on his desk from there. Next he rolled his pants legs up to his knees - he had huge leg calf muscles that he would slap as he talked - he was the his college football QB because he had a deep barking voice and was smart. He had large forearms and biceps - he was a bouncer for his college Dining Hall where ties, coats, and proper decorum were enforced if you wanted to eat. He started his lecture to us kids talking about the cemetery ceremony while the kids stuffed hotdogs in their mouths and chased screeching girls. He worked his lecture toward the need to have purpose in your life, and you needed to feel respect for those buried who gave their lives by demonstrating their purpose with actions more than words. It was the same lecture all 4 years for those who hung around - and thankfully it stuck and gave me understanding.
The Chaplet of St. Michael is recited regularly for our fallen warriors! Blessed be the Lord our Rock who trains our hands for war and our fingers for battle! Psalm 144:1
Thanks for the poignant note. My wife is from a proud Gold Star family. Her father (USNA ‘57), a USAF Major and pilot commanding a tactical recon wing, was shot down and killed in Vietnam in 1970, just a few days before my wife’s 10th birthday. She has two younger sisters. They have all thankfully survived and thrived , thanks to sisterly love and their amazing mother, who is still alive and well. I wonder frequently, and especially on this day, how it would have been if their dad could have been around to share all the events large and small of these last 50 plus years.
Memorial Day is May 30. It should be restored to that day. Somehow Veterans Day managed to escape the long weekend mania and we owe at least as much to the fallen as to the vets.
As one whose twin is on The Wall, your poignant handwritten message to your lost soldier touches those of us for whom Memorial Day is not just another not-going-to-work day….
Thanks John. A great reminder. I have flown several Honor Flights from Phx and I get that same sad feeling when we visited Arlington and the Tomb of the Unknown.
One of the most profound moments of my life was visiting the Vietnam War memorial and seeing then names of people I knew. Another was visiting Gettysburg. You can feel what happened there 160 years later.
You are so right, Martin. Both should be must-see venus or all Americans. The same is true of the Normandy beaches for those who can get there.
Gettysburg is exhibit one in what pisses me off about the reparations/oppressed by colonialists set. Name me another country in the last eleven millenia that sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives, from all backgrounds, to free slaves.
You are correct, of course, Martin. But how many of those decrying the country as "systematically racist" have ever thought of that?
Plot spoiler: Zero.
hello Martin,
I visited Gettysburg some years ago, with my family and friends of ours. To me, Gettysburg is Holy Ground. Grey or Blue, they are Americans all, and sacrificed their lives in defense of their homelands and for freedom.
One thing I notice of our two day stay to our friends, who are of Chinese Ancestry but Americans by birth and life - we rarely saw any black families, perhaps seeing a handful, less than a dozen, during our stay. I thought, perhaps this was just an outlier from a short window of our time there, but I couldn't help thinking it might be something more pervasive because you, Mr. Lucas, and any honest-thinking American knows how powerful the anti-American narrative is, and has been, for our lives and longer.
Next time I go back, I will walk the battlefields, imagine myself on Little Round Top among the ranks of the Maine soldiers, or marching towards the Union lines on that fateful third day - and I will again say a silent prayer of gratitude for the men who died there and their own sacrifice.
Ray
UNITE WITH GOD AND LIKE MINDED SOLDIERS --- New King James Version
A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle— Psalm 144:1🙏
“From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers“
Semper Fi
Beautifully written, John. You do Garney proud. Thank you for keeping his memory alive, and now your readers will too.
This Memorial Day, please also remember:
SSgt James M Ray, POW 13 Mar 68, died in captivity approx 6 Nov 69, Viet Nam
Capt Lonnie R. Ledet, 354th Tac Ftr Wg, 23 Aug 1983, Nellis AFB, NV
Capt Frederick A. Gerhart, 389th Tac Ftr Tng Sqdn, 12 Jan 1988, Mountain Home AFB, ID
Maj. Barry Henderson, 117 Tac Recce Wing, 08 Oct 1990, Operation Desert Shield
Maj. Stephen Schramm, 117 Tac Recce Wing, 08 Oct 1990, Operation Desert Shield
John 15:13
When my children were young, we lived very close to a cemetary with a President's grave site. It is on a hill will acres of the remains from the Civil War on. The WWI side was the worst for me, men who had never left the county and then died in France. It should be a reminder of the next election. Are we willing to sacrifice?
The story of Garney Burleson is similar to the one told by Dan Sharphorn when he went to Detroit to pay his respects to Barry McGee's family. There was no picture nor rememberances of Barry anywhere in the family home. The grave was difficult to find - it was hidden by brush and shrubs.
Dan took time to clean up the gravesite and display flowers.
This reminder by the author gives me a fond memory of my HS math teacher's efforts to remind the kids on the Friday preceding Memorial Day of the purpose of the national day. There was no math lecture - the class was started by Mr. Wilhelm taking his dress coat off, standing on his chair and then on his desk from there. Next he rolled his pants legs up to his knees - he had huge leg calf muscles that he would slap as he talked - he was the his college football QB because he had a deep barking voice and was smart. He had large forearms and biceps - he was a bouncer for his college Dining Hall where ties, coats, and proper decorum were enforced if you wanted to eat. He started his lecture to us kids talking about the cemetery ceremony while the kids stuffed hotdogs in their mouths and chased screeching girls. He worked his lecture toward the need to have purpose in your life, and you needed to feel respect for those buried who gave their lives by demonstrating their purpose with actions more than words. It was the same lecture all 4 years for those who hung around - and thankfully it stuck and gave me understanding.
The Chaplet of St. Michael is recited regularly for our fallen warriors! Blessed be the Lord our Rock who trains our hands for war and our fingers for battle! Psalm 144:1
The only thing we can do for a youth who gave up his life for his country is to remember him. "Lest We Forget."
Thanks for the poignant note. My wife is from a proud Gold Star family. Her father (USNA ‘57), a USAF Major and pilot commanding a tactical recon wing, was shot down and killed in Vietnam in 1970, just a few days before my wife’s 10th birthday. She has two younger sisters. They have all thankfully survived and thrived , thanks to sisterly love and their amazing mother, who is still alive and well. I wonder frequently, and especially on this day, how it would have been if their dad could have been around to share all the events large and small of these last 50 plus years.
Did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?
Although, you died back in 1916
In that faithful heart are you forever nineteen?
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enclosed in forever behind the glass frame
In an old photograph, torn, battered and stained
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame?
Memorial Day is May 30. It should be restored to that day. Somehow Veterans Day managed to escape the long weekend mania and we owe at least as much to the fallen as to the vets.
Thank-you for sharing. Emotional, painful, and depressing. So few remember. The humble opinion of an old hermit.
John - - Masterful. Heartfelt. Genuine.
As one whose twin is on The Wall, your poignant handwritten message to your lost soldier touches those of us for whom Memorial Day is not just another not-going-to-work day….
K. F-2 Zoo
I know what a tough day Monday will be for you. But we will remember him.
Thanks John. A great reminder. I have flown several Honor Flights from Phx and I get that same sad feeling when we visited Arlington and the Tomb of the Unknown.
Wow. That’s all I can say. I see the letter is signed “Blue”. Is there a connection to Bravo Blue?
yes