What Memorial Day is about !

[DCP]

For you Bob

I Give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for what I have today not what I don’t have. A high school friend made the supreme sacrifice Aug 1971 he was my age and so young. He was my friend.

Robert Bruce Curran
Specialist Four

PERSONAL DATA
Home of Record: Aurora, Illinois
Date of birth: Wednesday, 08/16/1950

MILITARY DATA
Service: Army (Selective Service)
Grade at loss: E4
Rank: Specialist Four
ID No: 333444634
MOS: 11D20 Armor Reconnaissance Specialist
LenSvc: Not recorded
Unit: F TROOP, 17TH CAV RGT, 196 INF BDE

CASUALTY DATA
Start Tour: Saturday, 09/12/1970
Cas Date: Thursday, 08/05/1971
Age at Loss: 20
Remains: Body Recovered
Location: Quang Nam, South Vietnam
Type: Hostile, Died
Reason: Gun, Small Arms Fire - Ground Casualty

ON THE WALL Panel 03W Line 123

You will never be forgotten
Miss you Bob

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

[30calflash]

Thanks for starting this.

Too any people forget what Memorial Day is about, being busy with the start of summer, picnics, whatever. This is definitely NOT what Memorial Day is about, or for.

For those who do not understand what sacrifice means, and why we observe Memorial Day, this short video may get them to come around. At least we hope...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omd9_FJnerY

Have a safe and meaningful Memorial Day, 30cf

[DCP]

Thanks for starting this.

Too any people forget what Memorial Day is about, being busy with the start of summer, picnics, whatever. This is definitely NOT what Memorial Day is about, or for.

For those who do not understand what sacrifice means, and why we observe Memorial Day, this short video may get them to come around. At least we hope...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omd9_FJnerY

Have a safe and meaningful Memorial Day, 30cf


Thank you

[slim1836]

I too will not forget what this day is meant for.

My dad came home from VN on a stretcher and later succumbed to cancer due to agent orange. He fought that battle for 10 years before the good Lord took him.

Most of us know many who fought to preserve this nation over the years and those who gave the extreme sacrifice. All heroes in my opinion.

[popper]

FIL was a navigator on B24 that got shot down, He pulled the front ball gunner out and took over the gun, just to survive. Crash landed in some desert but all crew survived. Back & internal problems for years until 'C' finally got him. He knew a lot of aircrew that didn't make it. We honer ALL of them.

[RED BEAR]

god bless bob and all the men and women who gave there lives for our freedom!

[DCP]

Final Mission of SP4 Robert B. Curran


SP4 Robert B. Curran, SP4 Marshal E. Naffziger, and SSGT James C. Reamer were armor crewmen, and SP4 Robert D. “Sam” Severson and SP4 Rodrick Troup infantrymen, all serving with B Troop, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. On August 5, 1971, their unit was on its seventh day of a 30-day armored combat patrol consisting of nine M113 armored personnel carriers (APC’s) and three M551 Sheridan tanks. The lead APC was being operated by SP4 Severson with the other four soldiers traveling on top of the vehicle. While crossing a rice paddy, a command-detonated mine was exploded, flipping Severson’s APC on its top. He and the four men riding above were killed instantly. At that same moment, Viet Cong hidden in the creek bed and tree lines surrounding the paddy opened fire. In the ensuing firefight, another B Trooper from one of the Sheridan crews, SSGT Johnny E. Jones, was fatally injured by small arms fire. Two others were wounded. Fifteen minutes later, the enemy broke contact and disappeared into the jungle. Dismounted patrols searched the area and found no trace of them or any evidence of enemy casualties. A medivac was requested, and the six casualties and two wounded were “dusted off” to the 75th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang. After examining the wrecked APC, it was surmised that the blast was caused by 150 pounds of nitrostarch, undoubtedly constructed from dud Allied rounds. All personal items were removed from the damaged vehicle, and the track was stripped of its weapons and radios. Using cables, two other tracks then righted the APC, and it was lifted from the paddy by a CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter to a waiting M88 Recovery Vehicle which carried it back to base. B Troop then resumed its patrol.

[MaryB]

Pvt Robert N Brown
Birth 13 May 1932
Death 3 Apr 1953 (aged 20)
North Korea
Burial
Fort Ridgely Cemetery
Nicollet County, Minnesota, USA

United States Army Private served with Company I, the 31st Infantry Regiment, Seventh Infantry Division. He was killed in action while in combat in North Korea.

[lightman]

To many citizens, this weekend is the official time to open the pool or uncover the boat. Let us not forget the real meaning of this holiday.

[smokeywolf]

Thanks for this DCP.

As always, on or just ahead of Memorial Day, I replace the flag which flies 24/7 in front of the house. Good lighting on it at night.

I have carefully stored away, my father's casket flag and his mother's and father's casket flags. Dad's not in a military cemetery, but his mom and dad are at Fort Rosecrans, sharing a grave. None of them died in action. They were fortunate to have lived into their 70s.

For those who have not seen the movie, "Taking Chance", I recommend it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfe4TxvUOiw

[DCP]

221127

[jsizemore]

I had the honor of attending this man's viewing this past Thursday. He was a soldier in the 9th Infantry during WWII:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/newsobserver/obituary.aspx?n=john-w-lewis&pid=189091930&fhid=16927

[DCP]

If you don't know what an Angel Flight is, this explains it. They bring home our Fallen, this song had me in tears. To all the brothers and sisters who have given the ultimate sacrifice, and to all those families left with an empty spot at the table, this is for you.

To the pilots of these flights, and to the Casualty Assistance Officers we salute you and thank you for taking care of our brothers and sisters on their final flight home. Words can never express how grateful we are that men and women like this have lived. Without them, there would be no America, and there would be no Freedom. You will never be forgotten. and your sacrifice will never be in vain.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Ikj1hZDnw

[jonp]

My wife and I have "adopted" 3 graveyards near our home. We just got back from planting flags at the headstones of those that served our nation. One of the graveyards is overrun with trees, brush and other stuff and is abandoned. We found several headstones of our Veterans in there and we regularly visit to clean off the stones and make sure the flags are there.

Never forget those that served our Nation and especially those that paid the ultimate price for our Freedom

[MaryB]

Jon there are websites that will list the graves in those abandoned cemeteries. Helps family find missing relative history... https://www.findagrave.com/ might want totlist them and someone may come out and get all the details they can.

[jonp]

Mary, that graveyard is not just abandoned, it's for sale by the town for lack of tax payment. My wife and I have talked about it several times trying to decide if we should buy it to clean it up and take care of the graves. Down this way there are many abandoned cemetery's that people have forgotten. Seems odd to us but the local VFW/American Legion also doesn't put flags on the graves around here for Memorial Day. Up in the North East sticks where we come from they find every grave of our Vets they can and put a flag on all of them. We even found a grave of a Revolutionary War Soldier out in the middle of the woods on the side of a mountain and the local VFW makes sure it's kept up and a flag is there.

[bedbugbilly]

In memory of Sergeant Duane Keil - KIA July 3, 1969

May your sacrifice, and those of all the others who gave it all, never be forgotten . . .

[DCP]

I know there are many here who just can't post because the pain is just too severe.
Thank you for your service, is just not enough!.
Please go see someone for help.
If you like send me a PM we can talk.

Find the peace you earned.

I know this is real because every year not many post to these types of Threads.

Without your sacrifice and those like you, the world would not be the same.

[EMC45]

http://www.iraqwarheroes.org/photos02/joel_baldwin02.jpg

Joel Baldwin. He knew my older brother when they were in 133 together and then I knew him when we were in 74 together. He was blown up by a suicide bomber in a chow tent 2004.

IDSS here on the site knew him too.

[shdwlkr]

lost my cousin Charles K Puderbaugh in Vietnam War and I was in the military at the time but I was an Army and he was Marine so I didn't get to bring him home.

[DCP]

I saw a soldier kneeling down,
for this was the first quiet place he had found.
He had traveled through jungles, rivers, and mud
He'd tasted the sweat and shed his blood.
He folded his hands and looked to the sky
I saw his tears, as they welled in his eyes.
He spoke to God, and this is what he said
"God Bless my men, who now lie dead;
I know not what You have in mind,
but when You judge them, please be kind
when they come before You, they will be poorly dressed
but they'll walk proudly, for they have done their best.
Their boots will be muddy and their clothes all torn
but these clothes they have so proudly worn.
Their hearts will be still and cold inside,
for they have fought their best and did so with pride.
So please take care of them as they pass Your way
the price of freedom they've already paid."
AMEN!
&
LEST WE FORGET!

[shdwlkr]

DCP
How very true now if more Americans understood today is a day to remember, a day to understand freedom is not free and never was meant to be easy

[DCP]

DCP
How very true now if more Americans understood today is a day to remember, a day to understand freedom is not free and never was meant to be easy

Thank you

We who understand are sadly in the minority

For all the Bobs

[TXGunNut]

One Angel Flight plane is based near here, suspect there are others. I see it from time to time, they do touch & go's at a nearby airport. Very moving video.

[TXGunNut]

Jon there are websites that will list the graves in those abandoned cemeteries. Helps family find missing relative history... https://www.findagrave.com/ might want totlist them and someone may come out and get all the details they can.

Thanks, Mary. I was able to find the location of the grave of a childhood friend with this site. I'd long thought it was unmarked in a local cemetery.

[OnHoPr]

In remembrance to family that have fallen from the revolutionary war to WWII, and to all.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afO3rEtup1o

[MaryB]

Mary, that graveyard is not just abandoned, it's for sale by the town for lack of tax payment. My wife and I have talked about it several times trying to decide if we should buy it to clean it up and take care of the graves. Down this way there are many abandoned cemetery's that people have forgotten. Seems odd to us but the local VFW/American Legion also doesn't put flags on the graves around here for Memorial Day. Up in the North East sticks where we come from they find every grave of our Vets they can and put a flag on all of them. We even found a grave of a Revolutionary War Soldier out in the middle of the woods on the side of a mountain and the local VFW makes sure it's kept up and a flag is there.


Jon maybe a fundraiser here to help? It would be a good project instead of having the land sold, graves dug up and moved who knows where... We IDed one more Sioux Uprising grave today and turned the info over to the Fort Ridgely historical society so they can make a brass plaque for it. Sorry I can't share pics, privacy thing for family who may be alive yet... it was a local name so I think there are surviving family members in this area.

[jaysouth]

This is a bittersweet day for me. My family has lost sons in every war since the Battle of Hastings in 1066. We revere the men who fought and died, often on the wrong side.

An event that I witnessed a couple of years ago leaves me bitter about who we are and how we remember our fallen. I had two of my grandsons on a tour of the Normandy beaches and battlefields. After two days, we ended our visit at the American cemetery overlooking the sea at Omaha Beach. Several years before, i had located the grave site of my uncle who dies in the first hour of the D-Day invasion, with the 29th Infantry Division.

Several busses pulled up and disgorged several hundred French school children who looked middle school age. They each had a handout and a group leader. They were quite and reverent and listened to the presentations in a serious manner. A priest began sprinkling holy water on graves. The French school children knelt and prayed over each grave.

It was a touching moment in a very special place. The scene still lives on with me but disgusts me when I think about how several hundred american school children would run amok and grabazz if taken to a cemetery of our fallen American soldiers. I can only imagine how politically correct staff members would protest taking school children to a military action because "it sent the wrong message".

This country has gone to hell in a handbasket.

[trapper9260]

I lost a Uncle in WW2 .He was KIA when he was call back in for the 2nd enlistment. He was kill in the South Pacific on one of the island by a sniper. I still have the flag they use the last time they buried him.He was buried 5 times.The flag have 48 stars on it.I always remember him and others that went before us in all wars and conflics.

[DCP]

Lest we forget!