I am thinking today of the crew of Yanky 72 that had a catastrophic failure at 20,000 feet above Mississippi on July 10, 2017. 15 Marines and 1 Sailor died that day. They were someone’s son, husband, father, friend. Over the years many members of our military have given their lives so we may live ours. Please take a moment and reflect on their sacrifices and let it not be wasted. Semper Fi

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Thank you for this post. May we never forget those that wrote a blank check to the United States of America in an amount up to and including their lives. I am pausing to remember and reflect:

Robert B. Baumer - flew 51 missions over Europe, then served in Korea. His B29 was shot down over North Korea in June, 1952; he's never been found. He was my father's cousin.

Jonathan Jugovic - died while serving on the USS Hayler, 2002. My cousin's son.

Chris Ferreby - USCG, died while on patrol on Lake Ontario off the Niagara River, 2001. My neighbor's brother.

Thank you for this thread and posts.
This Memorial Day I honor all those who served our country honorably and with valor, included my dad who passed away early Wednesday morning, two months shy of his 99th birthday. WWII U.S. Navy Underwater Demolitions Team, Pacific Theater. Joined at 17 years old.

Memorial Day formally known as "Rememberance Day" when people would go and decorate the headstones of the fallen veterans who had served our country. In these times there are so many people wishing "Happy Memorial Day" when it should be a somber day of rememberance. ....Also with all of the comercialization with the Memorial Day sales of everything from cars / furnature / and almost anything else that you can think of...... Both myself and my wife are Vietnam War Era Veterans and other ancestors that served...... God bless our troops be they past / present / future. ...................... drill sgt.

Be sure those flags are flying in full glory!!

I live not too far away from the National Army Museum at Fort Belvoir, VA. Planning to visit there tomorrow. Lost a great-uncle in World War I
while his unit (1st Infantry Division) was taking a hill in Oct. 1918.

https://www.thenmusa.org/

Tomorrow morning I will put up the flag and will get together with a few Navy buddies to raise a glass to absent friends.

I will be remembering EW2 Scott Owens. He was one of my recruits I trained when I was a RDC at Great Lakes. He later died on the USS Cole. I met a survivor from the Cole who was checking into RTC who served with him and confirmed that he was he was one of the good ones. Well liked by all and driven to excell at everything he did.

Flag and banners hanging and flying in the wind plus a parade past the house.
The sacrifices that people have made for us and our country are almost unimaginable.
Well done!

As we head into another three-day weekend, many of us are firing up the grill, packing the coolers, making beach plans, or catching up on long-awaited rest. And while there is nothing wrong with enjoying the freedoms this country affords us, it is important, critically important, to remember why this weekend exists in the first place.
Memorial Day is not just another holiday. It is not just a day off. It is a sacred reminder.
It was set aside to honor the men and women of our armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice so that the rest of us could live free, speak freely, worship as we choose, and chase our own version of the American dream.
They did not ask what was in it for them. They did not protest their orders. They kissed their families goodbye and did their duty. Some never came home. And for those who did, the burden of those memories often weighed heavier than we could ever imagine.
We live in a nation with a rich, complicated, and sometimes painful history, but it is a nation built on the bravery of those who fought for its ideals, even when those ideals were under threat. Every freedom we enjoy this weekend, the right to gather, to laugh, to complain, to live openly, was paid for in blood.
So before you toast your beer or set your playlist, take a moment. Say a prayer, raise a glass, lower your head, and remember the names and faces of those who gave everything so we could have something.
Teach your children that this is not just a long weekend. It is a memorial. It is honor. It is a responsibility.
If you are near a veteran, thank them, but remember Memorial Day is about the ones who did not make it back. Visit a cemetery. Read the stories of fallen heroes. Support a Gold Star family. And when Monday evening comes, reflect not just on what you did, but on why you had the freedom to do it.
Honor is more than a word. It is an action. And this weekend, we owe it to those who laid down their lives to remember them with more than just a barbecue.
Because freedom is not free, and neither should be our memory of those who paid for it.
And when the smoke finally clears and the dust settles, our nation will have a new appreciation for our military men and women who will forever be known as the Defenders of the Republic. Anonymous

I put my flag out Sunday. When I went to take it down before sundown, I found that the cheap-assed plastic junk flag holder had broken nearly into two pieces./ This A.M., I made a trip to my local ACE Hardware and purchased a quality cast alum. holder that will likely last longer than I will. I installed it and Old Glory is again flying in the breeze.

Putting my personal memories aside, each Memorial Day I find myself reflecting on two specific events: the tragedy in Benghazi and the loss of Extortion 17. Both were devastating in their own right — one likely preventable, and the other so staggering that I still struggle to comprehend the impact; not only to the Special Operations community, but our Nation itself.

https://www.navysealmuseum.org/extortion17

Never Forget

I’m sorry this is late. This post may encourage you to, once again, watch a great movie. I know it will for me.



Somebody took the time to piece together this short video using scenes from the 2009 movie, “Taking Chance.” I talked to Chance’s mother on the phone when I was the ranger at Blackrock. She was putting on a charity snowmobile event for the Chance Phelps Foundation up on Togwotee Pass and we got the permit together. Chance is buried in Dubois, Wyoming, where his mother lives.