posted 05-21-2009 05:26 PM ET (US)            

There is at least two CW members in active service - and one who did his duty for 4 years and was re-called to active duty. He went without complaint, though it interrupted his plans.

God bless everyone who has faithfully served this country and special blessings on those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in that service.

You can argue the question and politics of war and military actions all day long, but we must all remember and respect the service of those who simply gave in the service of their country.

posted 05-22-2009 10:22 AM ET (US)            

He will prosper for this experience the rest of his life.

posted 05-23-2009 01:15 AM ET (US)            

A bunch of his friends are putting together a memorial for him on his birthday, May 27th. Our family had a private get-together shortly after he died, but this will be a full-scale thing, sorta like a non-religious Catholic wake. I can only imagine the tall tales, the laughter and the tears increasing as the liquid refreshment flows, and the proud, solid memories of this fine man.

Anyway, if he were still here I know he would say, as he did throughout the Iraq mess: Full support, at home and abroad, in sickness and in health, for our brave service personnel--Bring 'em home soon, Obama! Keep your promise!

posted 05-25-2009 12:12 AM ET (US)            

Memorial Day commemorates those who died while in military service.

posted 05-25-2009 01:12 PM ET (US)            

Memorial Day didn't even officially exist until the early 1970s. It originated as Decoration Day, designed to honor the approximately 620,000 Americans, North and South, who died as soldiers during our Civil War (this number of war-related deaths, BTW, is greater than those dead in all other U.S. wars combined). Currently, Americans celebrate Memorial Day in various ways, part of the celebration being the "National Moment of Remembrance" during which all Americans are encouraged to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence "to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation."

You'll forgive me, please, if during that Moment of Remembrance I choose to think about members of my family, going back to the Civil War, many of whom served in the armed services and who are now dead, as well as other family members who served their nation as union organizers, civil rights advocates, and fighters for peace and justice at home and among nations...including my father who happened to be born on Memorial Day (back when it was still known as Decoration Day) and who died last month after a long and, in my mind, heroic life (the kind of life, and the kind of heroism, David, which I'm afraid you're incapable of understanding or appreciating). With your kind permission, I'll also take the time to remember and honor others who have died in service to the nation, including true Amercian heroes such as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano & Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., Caesar Chavez, Rosa Parks, Mario Savio, Harvey Milk, and thousands of others, known and unknown, who were never members of the military but whose service was and is of immeasurable value. I will also join the millions of patriotic Americans, civilians and military veterans, who use this solemn occasion to demand, "Support our troops. Keep your promise, Obama, and bring them home from Iraq."

posted 05-25-2009 03:48 PM ET (US)            

As you stated, "Currently, Americans celebrate Memorial Day in various ways, part of the celebration being the "National Moment of Remembrance" during which all Americans are encouraged to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence "to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation."

Why can't we just leave it that. I don't think anyone will deny that your dad was a great man, but this is about those that gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the military.

As far as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano & Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., Caesar Chavez, Rosa Parks, Mario Savio and Harvey Milk, some already have days set aside to honor them. I don't see the need to honor them on a day set aside for our military heroes. Memorial Day is to honor and remember those who gave all while serving in the military for their country.

Lets keep this simple AND civil and pay our respect for those brave souls that unselfishly died while keeping us and our loved ones free and safe from people wanting to do harm to us. Heroes like Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor will be remembered by many this Memorial Day.

posted 05-25-2009 05:02 PM ET (US)            

politics aside, as requested by the moderator, your comment was thoughtless and rude.

posted 05-25-2009 07:47 PM ET (US)            

The brave men of my family who went forth to protect our freedom (one grandfather, both uncles, my father, my FIL, my husband, two BILs, both bonus sons...and others in more distant generations) were all fortunate enough to return home alive. But each of them went knowing it could be otherwise.

And young men and women go today, knowing they may, or may not, come home.

posted 05-25-2009 11:15 PM ET (US)            

Memorial Day is for those who served in the military. Period. You are mocking those who served by lumping in anyone else.

Many feel union organizers were communists. Many today blame the unions for the United States demise with respect to manufacturing. Tony, your father's birthday does not appear to be on Memorial Day or Decoration Day. In 1918 Decoration Day was not May 27th period.

Your agenda also falls on the wrong day. Give it a rest.

Always Remember.

posted 05-25-2009 11:48 PM ET (US)            

Unfortunately his posting it on Memorial Day amounts to the same result the gay community found by trying to march in the South Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade. They partitioned the highest courts and lost because their intent to march had nothing to do with the true good of the parade and its original purpose. Yes the gay community has rights, but their choice of venue was deemed inappropriate. period.

Tony's decision to post on this Memorial Day topic is viewed by most as inappropriate.

posted 05-26-2009 09:37 AM ET (US)            

...actually, there only seem to be three of you that want to make an issue of his comment.

posted 05-26-2009 10:17 AM ET (US)            

I won't apologize for my comments here. I was taught the true significance of Memorial Day back in the late 1960s by members of VVAW-Winter Soldier Organization, active members of the military who used the day to raise consciousness about our invasion and occupation of Viet Nam. They taught me and many others that fighters for peace during times of national madness are as much to be honored as soldiers unwillingly drafted and forced to involve themselves in an unjust, unnecessary war. (I'm not a pacifist, BTW; but I believe this nation has fought in three and only three justifiable conflicts in its history--the War of Independence, the Civil War, and the Second World War. All the rest have been wars of conquest and imperialism, and while I honor those who fell, I sure don't feel that their deaths were for some noble purpose.)

Anyway, we've got Veterans Day coming up on November 11th, originally called Armistice Day to celebrate the end of the ultimate useless imperial war, WW I, during which more than 20 million servicemen from just about every nation on earth lost their lives. Can anyone here tell me why?

posted 05-26-2009 06:06 PM ET (US)            

quote:

---

I am thankful for small mercies. I compared notes with one of my friends who expects everything of the universe, and is disappointed when anything is less than the best, and I found that I begin at the other extreme, expecting nothing, and am always full of thanks for moderate goods.

---

posted 05-26-2009 09:50 PM ET (US)         

I wish our government had the courage to let our fighting men and women kick-ass like they did in WWII

By that remark, I can only conclude that you think our Armed Forces Commanders, and our government, during the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, and the Two Mideast Wars, weren't trying hard enough to actually win those wars, and thereby just sacrificed our troops. With the exception of the Mideast Wars, most of our troops were draftees, and had no say in what they did, but they kicked ass, anyway, as a means of staying alive. The results of those wars did not have anything to do with how hard the troops in the field fought. I think you owe an apology to those veterans and the families of the lost.

posted 05-27-2009 08:22 AM ET (US)            

Ford went to Vietnam in 1967 and traveled with a combat camera crew from the DMZ south to the Mekong Delta. For his service in Vietnam, the Navy awarded him a Navy Commendation Medal. Other decorations are as follows: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Rifle Marksman Badge, and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Medal. He retired from the Naval Reserve in the 1970s at the rank of captain.

Geroge C. Scott (Patton) also served 4 years in the marines from 1945 to 1949.

Henry Fonda (Midway & The Battle of the Bulge), although I'm sure I wouldn't agree with his politics, served in the Navy from 1942–45: lieutenant; Bronze Star and Presidential citation.

Robert Ryan (Battle of the Bulge) made his film debut at the studio in the wartime action thriller Bombardier. His career was interrupted by World War II -- he joined the Marines in 1944 and spent the next three years in uniform.

John Wayne wasn't in any of the movies I cited rich. You can do some more research on the other actors in these movies if you want-wikipedia is a great source, but keep blabbering...we are all entertained, LOL!

posted 05-29-2009 12:44 AM ET (US)            

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/elaelap/ALWArmyAirCorps001.jpg

For those who don't know, a "premature anti-fascist"-- according to the shameful, witch-hunting American ultra-rightists in the early 1950s like Joe McCarthy and members of the House Un-American Activities Committee--was a person who actively opposed the rise of Hitler and Mussolini, and perhaps supported the Spanish Republic against Franco and his fascist allies during the 1930s, before the cowardly isolationist U.S. and British governments acknowledged the danger. Some of these guys were communists, others socialists, others priests, ministers and rabbis, still others, like my father and many of his motion picture industry friends, were left-leaning pro-union, anti-racist Jeffersonian small-'d' democrats, sorta like me.

RIP, Dad. Them that understand won't begrudge me the incredible experience I just shared over the Memorial Day weekend celebrating your life and passing with a bunch of your friends and family members; the other fellows be damned!