After tens years of continuous war in two countries this Memorial Day is taking on more significance than ever. The growing number of fallen and wounded, the vets forever scarred by war, this is our legacy no matter how you feel about the politics of it all.
Vets deserve our respect and support 365 days a year, but there are a few occasions when we can give a few hours of our time for an event recognizing our older vets and our men and women still in uniform.
If there is a Memorial Day Service being held near you, why not plan on attending? If you are a Vet, come out and be among friends at these events. Still have your old G.I. hat? Then wear it proudly and let people know you served. It does us all good to recognize and be recognized. This is especially true for those new veterans with traumatic injuries. We want to thank you for your sacrifice and let you know you have many friends out here, more than you could ever know!
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A little known fact is that war still exists between South Korea and North Korea where US forces still patrol. Since the cease fire in 1953 over 1500 American soldiers have been killed in the DMZ. As one Army General recently said, “The Korea tour is still considered a hardship tour. Every soldier, sailor, airmen, or marine deployed to South Korea as a permanent duty station, or on TDY, is in harms way. There have been many hostile and aggressive acts against U.S. Troops by the North Korean military during the cease-fire.”
The CIA reports over 41,000 aggressive military actions by North Korea into South Korea, with a majority of those events halted by US personnel.
WII, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Iraq I, Iraq II, Afghanistan. Libya
God bless all our troops! Let’s not forget the guys fighting Obama’s war in Libya.
Amen to that Toby!
Perhaps the best way to honor those who have given their lives in service to our nation is to honor and assist their brothers in arms who have returned home only to face the many new challenges that confront them. Links to organizations dedicated to offering our veterans a hand up:
http://www.fisherhouse.org/
http://americanfreedomfoundation.org/home
http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
http://www.specialops.org/?page=AbouttheFoundation
http://www.homesforourtroops.org/site/PageServer
http://www.cfsrf.org/
http://ourfallensoldier.com/
God bless them all.
Watched a moving program last night on KIXE titled, Hallowed Grounds. . Twenty-two military cemeteries in eight countries are the final resting places for 125,000 American military men and women.
The stories of the wars, battles, soldiers and the people of the cities and towns where the cemeteries are is a true tribute to why we were there.
It will play again tomorrow morning (Wed. 6/1) at 4:00am.