Happy Veterans/Remembrance/Armistice Day

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

As your national allegiances may lie.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

 

[76-1]

As your national allegiances may lie.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

🇺🇸

 

[76-1]

Some appropriate news on Veterans Day:

Congress has finally come together to do something right:

Iraq War soldier Alwyn Cashe set to receive Medal of Honor after Senate passage of legislation

Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe has long been considered one of the Iraq War's great American heroes and would be the first African American to receive the award for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

www.stripes.com

 

[Courtsensetwo]

As your national allegiances may lie.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

CWCID Thank you

 

[76-1]

 

[iuwclurker]

To you, Grandpa.

Immigrated in 1903 at age 11 with his 14-year-old brother. Fought in France for his adopted country during WWI.

 

[76-1]

To my Grandfather- WWI USA Rainbow Division

My Father - WWII USMC
My Uncle - WWII USA
My Uncle - WWII USN

And to two family friends, WWII & Korea - USMC ((MoH))

I salute you all and may you Rest In Peace

 

[larsIU]

One of the most somber recollections from a soldier I've ever heard



May we never again fall prey to the levels of inhumanity discovered during WWI

 

[JamieDimonsBalls]

To my Grandfather- WWI USA Rainbow Division

My Father - WWII USMC
My Uncle - WWII USA
My Uncle - WWII USN

And to two family friends, WWII & Korea - USMC ((MoH))

I salute you all and may you Rest In Peace

I had two grandfathers in WWII in the Army, one in Europe and one in Africa that served admirably and came home and still lived incredibly fulfilling, even if predictable, lives.

I had a great uncle that was shot in the leg in Italy and limped his whole life, much of it with a cane. And yet, he was one of the most positive and upbeat people I knew.

RIP.

 

[outside shooter]

My Father-WWII, RIP
My uncle- WWII, purple heart, pacific theater, RIP
another Uncle- WWII, purple heart, pacific theater, RIP
another Uncle- WWII, purple heart, European theater, RIP
my wife's Uncle- WWII, killed in action, European theater
my great, great grandfather- Civil War, survived Andersonville prison, then survived the wreck of the Sultana, the riverboat explosion that killed more people than did the wreck of the Titanic

 

[JamieDimonsBalls]

Sultana

Holy crap, I literally had never heard of this incident before I just read about it. How tragic.

 

[outside shooter]

not to forget the women, too... I have two great aunts who were WWII nurses and are buried in Arlington cemetery

 

[Bulk VanderHuge]

Holy crap, I literally had never heard of this incident before I just read about it. How tragic.

Just read about it, too. Wow.

 

[76-1]

Sultana (steamboat) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[outside shooter]

I have always thought that the Sultana wreck would be a great major movie.

Lots of true drama there, with
-the end of the civil war,
-emptying of the horrid prison camps,
-the owners of the steam ships trying to cram as many Union soldiers as possible on board, since they had a contract with the Army to be paid by the head,
-allegations of rushed/shoddy patchwork on the Sultana boiler to get it ready on time,
-the drama of weakened ex-POWs, many crippled, if they even survived the blast, being thrown into the rain-swollen Mississippi to swim for their lives.

My GGGF swam for shore and held onto a tree for hours.

There were also stories/theories about confederate sabotage, so you could even put an Oliver Stone twist to the story too. Probably just greed though.

edit: I just learned that Amazon prime does have a documentary film on the Sultana: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3824722/

 

[Bill4411]

My dad flew 51 combat missions as a navigator on B-24's out of Italy earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with Oak leaf clusters. He was wounded and hospitalized for a week or so but refused to put in for a purple heart because his injuries were not really that significant he thought; he was no John Kerry but I kind of wish he would have since if you are the son or daughter of a purple heart recipient in Indiana you tuition is free. Dad had three children so it was not a great decision.

 

[twenty02]

My grandfather was in the Army during WW2, fought in the Battle of the Bulge... got bad frostbite on his feet that caused him issues the rest of his life. He also refused to return to Europe the rest of his life. My grandmother never visited the continent until after he passed.

My uncle (whom I was very close with growing up) volunteered for the Army during Vietnam, assuming he was going to be drafted anyway. And did two tours there. Refused to speak a word about it, to this day. He had a successful business career, but also battled crippling alcoholism.... particularly post- retirement.

War sucks.

Happy Veterans Day.

 

[Bill4411]

My grandfather was in the Army during WW2, fought in the Battle of the Bulge... got bad frostbite on his feet that caused him issues the rest of his life. He also refused to return to Europe the rest of his life. My grandmother never visited the continent until after he passed.

My uncle (whom I was very close with growing up) volunteered for the Army during Vietnam, assuming he was going to be drafted anyway. And did two tours there. Refused to speak a word about it, to this day. He had a successful business career, but also battled crippling alcoholism.... particularly post- retirement.

War sucks.

Happy Veterans Day.

People that don't talk about their service are the ones that actually saw the awful reality of war. It was like pulling teeth to get anything out of my dad. He just didn't want to talk about it. In hindsight I recognize he suffered from PTSD but it didn't have a name for it then unless you were completely dysfunctional and then it was termed combat fatigue.

 

[Bill4411]

My grandfather was in the Army during WW2, fought in the Battle of the Bulge... got bad frostbite on his feet that caused him issues the rest of his life. He also refused to return to Europe the rest of his life. My grandmother never visited the continent until after he passed.

My uncle (whom I was very close with growing up) volunteered for the Army during Vietnam, assuming he was going to be drafted anyway. And did two tours there. Refused to speak a word about it, to this day. He had a successful business career, but also battled crippling alcoholism.... particularly post- retirement.

War sucks.

Happy Veterans Day.

A story that I thought was kind of amusing when I was kid doesn't seem that way to me now. There was a part time farmer but pretty much a full time drunk that lived near us as a kid and he was married to one of my high school teachers. He was three sheets to the wind one night and he was talking about how wonderful she had been for him to some of his drinking buddies and then he said, "but boys she's as ugly as a mud fence" after describing her other wonderful traits. Given he had been on the Bataan death march and was a Japanese prisoner of war for 3 years and what it must have been like to live with him was to be admired not ridiculed by anyone least of all me as a smartass teenager. R.I.P. Ralph and Ersie.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

My grandfather served in WW1 in the Army. He had been a teamster before the war, so he served moving artillery. My dad in the US Army Air Corps in WW2. I have a brother who was US Army in Vietnam and US Navy in Beiruit.

My brother has pretty much totally disappeared, we know he's alive but he refuses all contact. We know he has PTSD, he was booted from the Navy for it. His paranoia of even his family is said to be consistent with severe PTSD. He had a son with spina bifida, a common birth defect caused by agent orange. In talking to him between his army and navy days, he would mention Vietnam then ask if he had told me his stories. I would say no. He would get a look and say that he would someday.

We really never did right by Korean or Vietnam veterans.

 

[Bill4411]

My grandfather served in WW1 in the Army. He had been a teamster before the war, so he served moving artillery. My dad in the US Army Air Corps in WW2. I have a brother who was US Army in Vietnam and US Navy in Beiruit.

My brother has pretty much totally disappeared, we know he's alive but he refuses all contact. We know he has PTSD, he was booted from the Navy for it. His paranoia of even his family is said to be consistent with severe PTSD. He had a son with spina bifida, a common birth defect caused by agent orange. In talking to him between his army and navy days, he would mention Vietnam then ask if he had told me his stories. I would say no. He would get a look and say that he would someday.

We really never did right by Korean or Vietnam veterans.

So many of them just want to retreat into total isolation. It can really be hard being a vet and you pretty much need to be one to really understand but it is to often life altering and they never get back to being 100%.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

The most moving of all war memorials for me.

If you haven't visited the National WWI Museum in Kansas City, add it to your bucket list. I had been to KC often before I even knew the Museum existed.

 

[mcmurtry66]

My grandfather was in the Army during WW2, fought in the Battle of the Bulge... got bad frostbite on his feet that caused him issues the rest of his life. He also refused to return to Europe the rest of his life. My grandmother never visited the continent until after he passed.

My uncle (whom I was very close with growing up) volunteered for the Army during Vietnam, assuming he was going to be drafted anyway. And did two tours there. Refused to speak a word about it, to this day. He had a successful business career, but also battled crippling alcoholism.... particularly post- retirement.

War sucks.

Happy Veterans Day.

interesting stuff Twenty. My dad was air force and stationed mostly in thailand during vietnam. talks about it fondly as tho it were his college days. regrets leaving the military. i trust i have many siblings in thailand. my uncle was a marine. came home from vietnam and moved into my grandma's basement and never left until he died. never could get himself right. unbelievable athlete.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

The most moving of all war memorials for me.

If you haven't visited the National WWI Museum in Kansas City, add it to your bucket list. I had been to KC often before I even knew the Museum existed.

I attended a national WW1 symposium there for the 100th in 2018. The museum is fabulous. They had just installed a system to shine poppies onto that tower at night for the 100th so we were the first to get to see it in action. I had a chance to speak to the director. A lot of cities built WW1 museums then expanded them after WW2 (Indianapolis did that). So they had extra WW1 artifacts they needed to get rid of to make way for the other wars. KC said, "We'll take them". It is a top-notch museum.

 

[Cortez88]

The most moving of all war memorials for me.

If you haven't visited the National WWI Museum in Kansas City, add it to your bucket list. I had been to KC often before I even knew the Museum existed.

My grandfather served in Korea. He was in a tank, probably smoking Lucky Strikes.

 

[76-1]

A proper way to end this day:

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

My grandfather, as a First Sergeant in Korea. He was eventually promoted to CSM before he retired. Served in two wars, and then spent decades traveling America with my grandmother and living off the buffet in their favorite casino in Henderson. The only time I had the chance to visit them in Nevada, they lived in a retirement community, but he had turned the spare bedroom into a memorial to his time in the service. So many great things he showed me there. Medals, citations, little things that were only valuable to him for the memories. My favorite was a picture of him shaking hands with Ike. For our messed up family, that moment was a high point.