On Memorial Day Weekend, Just a Few Thoughts.

Photo courtesy of Google Images and our veterans

I won’t get all long-winded, it’s late. It’s enough for tonight that we “remember to remember”. Memorial day is not just about drinking beer and getting a day off. Holidays are great, but often the original meaning is lost.

Memorial day is not about being lazy and grilling all day. Sure, it’s Ok to do all those things on Memorial Day as long as we remember what the day symbolizes. It symbolizes our freedom, and what it took to secure it over hundreds of years.

We may not even know our great grandfather perished in the Civil War, but for all we know he is in Heaven waiting to see if we remember his sacrifice.

We as a nation are free now for their sacrifice; we are truly free.

Others fought and died to preserve our right to live in freedom. They made the ultimate sacrifice.

Memorial Day is a time to reflect. Each of our families has lost someone to war going back to the Revolutionary war. I came within a whisker of going to Vietnam, if I had I might not be here now making these comments.

Others died in my place. Their names are all inscribed upon “The Wall”. I’ll be honest with you. I have had chances to go to the wall. I thought about it. But, I was not ready, not just yet.

I didn’t think I was ready t the time. Some of my high school buddies names are upon that wall. I don’t know for sure just who they are, but it will be a very hard job for me to start at one end, and walk that long wall.

For decades I have remembered the times with Vietnam veteran buddies of mine. Toby McCord, Tank, James Bagents were all green berets. Toby and Tank are gone now. James, I don’t know. Bill Walker was a “grunt”, he’s gone now, I lost him last month.

Toby was at the battle of Hamburger hill. He was one of the very few to make it to the top of the hill and down alive. Toby shared my name, he shared my birthday, October 13th. We were both part Choctaw Indians, as such, we became blood brothers one night using a Buck knife on our birthday.

There are others, Sgt. Danny Higgins USMC, Col. Martin Mayo USAF, I don’t know if they are still with us, but I’ll remember them tonight, and am glad they came back to be my friends..

There are 58,000 names on that wall. It will be a long walk. Long ago George Jones made a video that best expresses my feelings tonight. The name is “Fifty Thousand Names Carved In The Wall”, this is the link to the video.

I am grilling tonight, I won’t be finished until after midnight perhaps, but I’ll use the time to reflect. As I sip my beer, I’ll “remember to remember”.