Reprising last year's tribute to the men who paid the last full measure — and to the families who've carried their absence for a lifetime. Remembering the price of freedom on today's somber holiday.
Would love for you to dig into your observation in your intro when you have time, Jeff:
The specific asymmetry you identified is real. Memorial Day 2025 — no active war, extensive coverage. Memorial Day 2026 — active war with named American dead, less coverage. If anything an active wartime Memorial Day demands more solemn attention to the fallen, not less. Whatever their position on the Iran operation’s wisdom, the 13 Americans who died in it were real people who deserve to be named today. That’s not a political statement. That’s basic human decency.
Killed March 1, 2026 — Port of Shuaiba, Kuwait (Iranian strike):
• Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54
• Sergeant First Class Nicole Amor, 39
• Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens, 42
• Sergeant Declan Coady, 20
• Major Jeffrey O’Brien, 45
• Captain Cody Khork, 35
Died March 8, 2026 — Saudi Arabia (from March 1 injuries):
• Sergeant Benjamin Pennington, 26
Killed March 12, 2026 — Western Iraq (KC-135 Stratotanker crash):
• Major John “Alex” Klinner, 33
• Captain Ariana Savino, 31
• Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, 34
• Captain Seth Koval, 38
• Captain Curtis Angst, 34
• Technical Sergeant Tyler Simmons, 28
Six of them died together on the same tanker aircraft on March 12. Six more died together on the ground in Kuwait on March 1. Benjamin Pennington held on for a week before succumbing.
May they rest in peace.
Instead it’s all about mattress sales and store hours.
Sad.
(Edit to add: Every notification ping I’m receiving feels like a bell tolling in their memory.. .
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
Thank you everyone and May God Bless You and May God Bless Our Troops and May God Bless America.)
Beautifully said. God bless our Country and keep all the souls who fought to keep this the Land of the Free because it is the Home of the Brave and Faithful.
So many more names can be added to this rollcall. It is up to all of us to step forward today and always, bow our heads and speak their names in gratitude for their ultimate sacrifice for our continued freedom.
Thank you! This choked me up and brought tears to my eyes. I cannot help but also remember the 13 U.S. service members were killed at Abbey Gate, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 26, 2021, as well. The number 13 triggered that for me, I’m sure. God Bless them all!
Speaking of Afghanistan, “the graveyard of empires” since Alexander the Great, #NeverForget the whistleblower victim of purportedly accidental “friendly fire” #PatrickTillman.
There is a saying, “Heroes aren’t forgotten until their names are no longer spoken.” Let us resolve to not let that happen on our watch. Rest in Peace, fallen warriors, and may God comfort the families left behind, especially those whose broken hearts are only a few months into their journey of grief.
Yes. And too, let #US #NeverForget the 34 killed in the traitorous #LBJ enabled “accidental” (read intentional) Israeli air and sea attack on the #USSLiberty in international waters off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula on June 8th, 1967.
Guy, that is a beautiful post. I’d love to quote you, if I may. That sentiment is what I so often feel when reading stories of the fallen, and was never able to articulate.
Memorial Day is for remembering US fallen soldiers. Iran should absolutely mourn their dead. Funny how you didn't mention the 10's of thousands killed by Iranians for protesting their tyrannical government.
The number is about 3,000 which included 400-500 police. The peaceful protesters were used as cover by armed goons who killed a lot of police resulting is a lot of fire back. It's bad enough as it is so there's no need to exaggerate or embellish.
I saw an Iranian woman who said that the "school kids" were actually females who were killed protesters. That the IRGC kept the female bodies for such a time to make this claim. I don't know if it's true or not just as you don't know whether what you are saying is true but based on previous actions I'd believe the woman before any part of the Iranian news or government.
BTW did you see the video of the man having a melt down about his dead son? He was so busy being hysterical, he didn't notice the kid scratching an itch on his foot. Probably just one of those muscle twitches after death??? 🤔
I don't think you understand the reason for Memorial Day. It is to observe the sacrifices of our military who made the ultimate sacrifice. It is a specific remembrance for those who protected this nation with the last measure a person can give.
"who protected this nation" - Sadly they did nothing of the sort and their lives were wasted in vain.
Until we stop falling for the same reasons for war and implement Smed's ideas there will be a lot more dead to "respect". Sadly I don't see that happening and it wasn't a "sacrifice". It was the sad end of manipulated individuals who fought wars based on lies they were told.
I do. Remember those who died "serving" YOUR country. Others do the same. But nothing ever changes and more dead are created. How about we try old Smed's idea?
My grandfather barely survived the Battle of the Somme in WW1. He spent 6 months recovering in a London hospital, then picked up his family and moved to America.
One of my aunt's teachers asked him to come speak to her class about war, no doubt expecting platitudes about the glory and honor of war.
Instead, my grandfather told the class that he had no idea why he was sent off to kill German youth. He said "I had nothing against those boys".
Heretic!
He was never invited to speak again, according to my aunt.
Paul Valery nailed it:
“War is a place where young people who don’t know each and don’t hate each other but kill each other, based on decisions made by people who know each other and hate each other, but don’t kill each other.”
While this true, We should not lessen their sacrifice. I could say the same about children of divorce, "......people who hate each other sacrificing their children's security and mental well being to further own ego's and or sexual gratification."
There was no point, and yet, the orders of the rulers led to the deaths of millions. That makes it worse, imo.
And yeah, I grew knowing that my grandpa had almost been killed in the Battle of the Somme, but didn't have a clue what that battle was until I was an adult. It started on July 1, as I recall, and he was injured in September.
We’re behooved to vociferously support #Israelidissidents, nee refusniks. They’re our humane allies in our new #UnitedFront (#UF!) of #Resistance to the #LeviathanOfAuthoritarianism (ref. GrantPeeples.com).
Ours is an #Independent & strictly nonviolent #RevolutionOfAwareness for #FreeingTruth (ref. Bollyn.com & John 8:32, respectively).
Our task is to #HoldFast to #HealthySkepticism and, excepting the unacceptable political IDIOTology of #FascistZionism, to eschew Soul-corroding cynicism.
Regular recitation of the #SerenityPrayer is #NEARLY a requirement to maintain a salubrious #AttitudeOfGratitude.
#CREATORS (Counselor Reconciler Educator Activist Truther Organizer Reader Socializer) Independent candidate for #Florida’s House of Representatives, district 22.
When is the place and time? How many more soldiers dead and vets we fail to care for when they are maimed?
"people like you are never appropriate" - Correct. We are thick as a brick. We will ask questions of authority and refuse to go along when lied to. Not smarter, just able to say "No" and stand our ground come hell or high water.
We will question everything and everyone regardless of the authorities or other people's reactions. It's just what we are. Jethro Tull had a song for us.
And hundreds of thousands of civilians incinerated in the fire bombing campaigns in Japan & Germany. No remains for their relatives either. The air force general in charge of those operations, Curtis LeMay, said after the war "It's a good thing we won this war or we'd be tried as war criminals". Nice of him to own it.
How about we just say no to deploying troops outside US territory without the military voting on deployment? That would be the ultimate "spanner in the works".
Think of the irony. A famous, heavily decorated, military general had a solution to the very military industrial complex problem we now face and nobody wants to try it.
It sounds like the US Navy command is the reason the US didn't go charging into the Valley of Death......er, the Hormuz Strait when ordered. Rumors are that they refused to do something that stupid and suicidal.
It's easier to have a rational conversation about atrocities long ended wars, because the fog-of-war has ended, and those who were responsible are not in power. The "allies" certainly killed too many Germany and Japanese civilians. I'm sure in a few cases many enemy civilian deaths could have been avoided without endangering any allied troops.
But by the time we got to the point in the war where we could firebomb Dresden and Tokyo, the leaders, generals and admirals had seen more carnage that we could imagine. I don't feel like I can judge them for not giving a shit about enemy civilian lives anymore.
Obviously, President Trump hasn't seen the amount of carnage that Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, Prime Minister Churchill and the various generals and admirals had seen. On the other hand, don't go comparing the accidental strike on a school with the intentional firebombing of entire cities.
"On the other hand, don't go comparing the accidental strike on a school with the intentional firebombing of entire cities" - I'm not. At least Curtis owned it.
"by the time we got to the point in the war where we could firebomb Dresden and Tokyo" - Yea that was when the concept of "total war" became accepted, then anything goes. All sides do it.
Problem is it's now nuclear. And yes Israel will use theirs. Anyone would. To quote an old Soviet general "Nobody stops shooting until all bullets in gun are gone".
In the case of Dresden, the US had only entered that war 6 months before. And Dresden had no military value. It was going to be captured by the Soviets, so the Brits and Americans firebombed it. Kurt Vonnegut was there, as a POW. He wrote a book about it.
After they stormed the beaches of Normandy, they bombed the villages of France that were in the way of their race to Berlin.
The US killed more French civilians than the Germans did, and the irony is that all that rubble slowed them down.
The firebombing of Dresden took place Feb 13-15, 1945, more than 3 years after the US joined WW2.
I'm not going to spend time fact checking anything else after that HUGE miss.
1st edit to add: I will say that the question of who killed more French civilians is kind of strange. The Germans didn't consider (most of) the French to be subhuman, so they didn't go about killing them en masse, except for Jews, Gypsies and gays. I would expect that if you count THOSE, the Germans killed a lot more civilians than the allies did. Maybe I'll look into it later.
The Germans DID consider the Polish, Ukrainians and Russians subhuman, and killed them en masse.
2nd edit to add - of course the Germans didn't need to kill French civilians as they rolled in to occupy France. France pretty much rolled over. The allies DID have to fight their way through it to get to Germany.
My father was a WW2 veteran that at one point lost his whole platoon, 49 men one night in Germany. He ended up getting a field promotion to 2nd sergeant. He went on to fight in the battle of the Bulge, was shot in the back, sent to England, where a surgeon removed a lung and saved his life. Because of his sacrifice he died when I was just 20.
When I think of the shysters like Fauci or Morens or people like Joe Biden or Bill Clinton who sold the Chinese super computers, missile technology and nuclear technology that allowed them to pinpoint targets in the U.S., for a one million dollar donation to his 2nd campaign, I get sick to my stomach.
The people that sell out America for personal profit piss on the graves of those who gave so much to keep this country and its citizens free. And look where they have taken this world. Europe is lost. I’m not sure what we are protecting them from, communism? They put people in jail for thinking what the government considers wrongly. I only hope the Trump administration continues to prosecute and jail these traitors. I think it’s our only chance and the world’s only chance for survival.
I am glad to hear Trumpie has "repositioned" 5000 troops from Germany into Poland. . . hopefully, his precursor to permanent retrenchment the world over!
My mother was a tough ole bird (respectfully). The only time I saw her cry in her 84 years (with the exceptions of her husband's and sons' funerals) was on Memorial Day. Her only brother was a pilot in WW2, shot down and never recovered.
It is good that we can remember those who have sacrificed all for the freedoms we so often take for granted. Freedom isn't free with the exception of our Lord and Savior Jesus. His sacrifice is the free gift for all who would believe. True freedom is found only in Him. May God Bless and give His peace to all those who have lost loved ones, family and friends in service to protect the freedoms we enjoy.
My grandmother's oldest son, a pilot, was shot down and killed. As a child I did not understand her lack of joy. Not until I was older and read her many personal writings and poems. 💔 Her world was changed forever too.
I was thinking about my Aunt Ruth, who was always sad and depressed when we went to visit her after my own dad died. (1970’s). I never seemed to understand why until I realized she was mourning the loss of her son Roy “Butch” Griffin who died in Vietnam when his truck hit a roadside bomb. I was only 8 at the time. As a mother now, I can see how her sacrifice and loss profoundly affected the rest of her life. God Bless all who have given their last breath of devotion, and their loved ones who are left behind.
So true. Memorial Day is also a day to honor and love on those left behind. Wives, husbands, children, siblings, friends.
My uncle is on the first wall at the Viet Nam memorial in DC. He died in combat *before* we were officially at war. I remember his widow visiting us in South Dakota. Our very sheltered lives were blown open the day she and her kids arrived. And a month later JFK was murdered. An unsettling and seminal month in our innocent lives.
Thank you. These people deserve to be honored and remembered. The price of freedom is steep indeed, and we need to be reminded how steep and how precious it is.
As is tradition, we are at the lake with family this weekend. To keep us all mindful of why we are able to gather, one member of the family (just returned from France) used AI to learn the backstory of random fallen soldiers, who's graves he photographed last week. We all listened and gave thanks for each fallen American's service and a prayer for the families of our fallen. It was very humbling and I am very proud of this 45 year-old father setting an example for his children and for us Boomers as well.
Mr. Childers, thank you for this updated post. As citizenry of this most exceptional country, we have much to be thankful for and much to be thoughtful over in honoring all those who gave their everything to preserve and protect that exceptionalism. Thank God for those who fell to keep us standing free.
This battle for freedom belongs to us as well, though it may not be with bullets and bombs (yet), but the insidious and evil efforts and ideology to enslave us mentally, financially and spiritually. We owe it to our forefathers and to our children to resist such darkness which threatens us across the world.
It will take amazing strength and resolve to stand up to those in authority who issue unconstitutional mandates, peddle fear, or seek to divide us and turn us against one another.
May freedom be the light that we share to the rest of the world, and inspire others to ignite that flame as well. Many overseas have a difficult struggle ahead, which inspires us today, and we cheer them on, and we share in their victories as they overcome despotic and tyrannical leaders.
There's is a flame of freedom within each of us. May we help sustain it for all, even if we must sacrifice a little. Or everything.
That last line - "May we never forget the cost of freedom. And may we, who do not fight, never stop being the kind of people who are worth fighting for." - well said, sir. I aim to be the kind of person worth fighting for. May God bless our troops, and you, Jeff. You're fighting a different kind of battle - for us. Making us aware of what's really happening on the front lines, fighting and defending what's right, all with a perfect balance of humor and sarcasm.
My uncle, Walter Cizek, the most promising of my grandmother’s four surviving children, died in the battle of the bulge, shortly after I was born. War is hell, in so many ways.
Maybe it’s time to transcend the usual “history” approach re war, and focus on the real why? And who really was at fault? “Qui bono”-ed? . . Is the enemy really us, Pogo?
For some reason, I still have the metal box that contained Walter’s medic first aid kit, on my book shelf, I can’t seem to get rid of it.
It is understandable that you would hold on to this personal item that belonged to your uncle. He should not be forgotten. Thank you for telling us about him.
I have the battered, tiny volume of the Army-issued New Testament and Psalms given to my father, a gunnery sergeant in the European theater in World War II. I cannot part with it.
Don’t ever get rid of that box. That is something to keep and treasure for a lifetime. My father survived WWII (Army Infantry, Pacific theater) but died at age 53 of ALS. He would never speak about his jungle experiences in any detail, especially to his daughters. Sadly, when he retired after 23 years of service (to avoid almost certain deployment to Vietnam), and we left Ft Benning, the movers lost the box containing most of his Army memorabilia and records.
If WWI had been handled differently, WWII would not have happened. And WWI seemed pointless in the fist place. Once the World's leaders had made the choices they did, now, a huge sacrifice became necessary to protect freedom. But I wish we could learn the lesson from history to avoid such circumstances.
I do think some war and sacrifice will always be necessary to preserve freedom and I appreciate those who fight for it. The scale of loss should never be so high though as it was in the world wars.
When I was growing up Americans lived in daily constant fear of the Russians, the godless Communists whose sole objective was to kill all Americans and destroy the United States. We were so bombarded with continual fear of Communists that American children trained for the imminent Russian attack. “Duck and cover.”
When Americans were completely convinced that if we did not attack a country the size of Rhode Island, we would wake up to Communist soldiers on our doorsteps raping our women and killing our children, we went to war in Viet Nam, because America HAD to “STOP THE SPREAD OF COMMUNISM”.
Years later we would find out that the real reason we went to war in Viet Nam was because unfortunately for those Vietnamese people, Viet Nam had the largest poppy fields in the world. And those poppy fields were cutting into the Evil’s South American drug industry.
Do you know which country has the largest poppy fields in the world now?
When Nazi war criminal Herman Goering was asked "What if the people don't agree with a war?":
“The people can always be brought to the bidding of the Leaders. That is easy.
All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.” - Hermann Goering, Nuremberg Trials 1946
Thank you! This is a typical example of how the USG takes the American people to war over and over again. The USG is not our government. It is a government of the elites, by the elites and for the elites. Every time the American people start to figure that out, they switch up the narrative, create a new crisis and then offer us a "patriotic" solution. This is true in every case whether it be Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Lyndon Johnson, George Bush (both Iraq and Afghanistan) or Donald Trump. Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain saw the truth of this in 1899 and opposed the Spanish-American War; US Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler experienced the truth of this and published "War Is A Racket" in 1935; having served in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower ended his Presidency by warning America of the Military-Industrial Complex; and finally, John F Kennedy was the last American President to oppose leading the country into foreign wars and he was assassinated for his efforts! That message has not been lost on subsequent Presidents.
Indeed! Why do we have wars? We obligingly supply our children to these wars who then come home injured or in a box. We then lionize as "heroes" all those that gave their all as "patriotic" Americans to a war whose justification was defending our liberty when the conflict in question was never about "our" liberty to begin with. Yet the last time America was actually attacked was the war of 1812. Every war the USG has taken us into since then, including the Civil War, has been a war of aggression and not a war in defense of the country. Until we answer the above question, this cycle of violence will never end. In reality, war is almost always simply politics by other means.
At the following link in a 13 minute video, a clear thinking British citizen speaks the truth about what is happening in England, Europe and the United States. See if you don't agree.
A black flag excuse for war just as there was with every other war. Think 9/11. FDR was elected by America on the promise that he would not get America involved in the war in Europe. America had just finished fighting the previous European war we call WWI and the American people wanted no more of that. But FDR wanted to be a "War President" and schemed to get America into the "new" European war by blockading Japan (which by the way IS an act of war) and provoking her to attack our fleet in the Pacific. Unknown to Japan, the US had long broken Japan's communications code (which I think they made a movie out of) and knew exactly when and where she was going to attack. So FDR sent the carrier groups out of port and only kept a few expendable ships in the harbor as bait that would be sacrificed in order to galvanize the American people for war. He had his famous "Day in infamy" speech written before the first bomb fell on Pearl Harbor. SAME song and dance before every war.
If we are such a great DEMOCRACY, why aren't we "allowed" to vote on whether or not we should go to war??????? The answer to that changes everything.
There’s a beautiful song called “Tell My Father” from the play The Civil War that my husband plays on the mandolin & guitar. He is Retired AF & today is a holy day for us. This song will make you cry.
If you ever get the chance, you can listen to many of the songs of this musical on YouTube. We have the CD & listened yesterday & cried. It’s a little reminder for the sacrifices so many have made back to the Revolutionary War.
Lovely, and much appreciated by this woman whose dad fought (pilot, B17s), and whose family has fought for this country since the Revolutionary War. Well, there was a side trip in the Civil War, but they were fighting then for their land and their ideals. This legacy continues with current grandchildren. LIke many today, I want my country back.
Louisa, like you, my family on both sides has been in this country well before the Revolution (1620's & 1750's). My ancestors fought and died in every war this country fought through Vietnam. We have lost a few good men along the way. I still have a nephew serving in the USAF overseas. Several career veterans, now retired, are in the family.
I left out my oldest nephew, Greg, who served 2 Afghanistan & 2 Iraqi tours. He was wounded twice, awarded the Purple Heart twice, awarded, the Silver Star, & 2 Bronze Stars. He was Army Special Forces, Air Assault and retired about 12 years ago. All of 3 of his stars were awarded for heroism under fire... for rescuing individual squad members from fire... Trapped in the open after being shot & disabled. The Silver Star AFTER he had taken multiple rounds through his shoulder, he still rescued his comrade-in-arms from harm's way without regard for his own safety.
On Memorial Day: In honor of my brother, James H. DeMent. Jr., who will be buried at West Point on July 6. He commanded a B-52 crew of six airmen in the 99th Bomber Wing during the Vietnam War, flying more than 160 combat missions during the "Arc Light" campaign.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and eight Air Medals.
Thank you Jeff for today's post. I was not a reader/subscriber at this time last year, so this is a new post to me.
Today I recognize all my relatives and friends who paid the ultimate price. My Father and Uncle two Wisconsin farm boys who served and came back forever changed. My Uncle was a mechanic on planes; my father cataloged the dead. My friends Jimmy & Dale, both served in Vietnam, Jimmy passed years later from the crap he was exposed to. Dale still carries the memories, and they haunt him.
Freedom isn't free, it is paid by men and women who stepped up so that we can have the freedoms and the benefit of living in America, still the best Nation on earth. In the next few days, I will go back to waging an internal war against the Left who chooses to tear down instead of building up our Country. But today, and yes for all days, I thank those who paid the price for my Freedoms.
Would love for you to dig into your observation in your intro when you have time, Jeff:
The specific asymmetry you identified is real. Memorial Day 2025 — no active war, extensive coverage. Memorial Day 2026 — active war with named American dead, less coverage. If anything an active wartime Memorial Day demands more solemn attention to the fallen, not less. Whatever their position on the Iran operation’s wisdom, the 13 Americans who died in it were real people who deserve to be named today. That’s not a political statement. That’s basic human decency.
Killed March 1, 2026 — Port of Shuaiba, Kuwait (Iranian strike):
• Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54
• Sergeant First Class Nicole Amor, 39
• Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens, 42
• Sergeant Declan Coady, 20
• Major Jeffrey O’Brien, 45
• Captain Cody Khork, 35
Died March 8, 2026 — Saudi Arabia (from March 1 injuries):
• Sergeant Benjamin Pennington, 26
Killed March 12, 2026 — Western Iraq (KC-135 Stratotanker crash):
• Major John “Alex” Klinner, 33
• Captain Ariana Savino, 31
• Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, 34
• Captain Seth Koval, 38
• Captain Curtis Angst, 34
• Technical Sergeant Tyler Simmons, 28
Six of them died together on the same tanker aircraft on March 12. Six more died together on the ground in Kuwait on March 1. Benjamin Pennington held on for a week before succumbing.
May they rest in peace.
Instead it’s all about mattress sales and store hours.
Sad.
(Edit to add: Every notification ping I’m receiving feels like a bell tolling in their memory.. .
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Thank you everyone and May God Bless You and May God Bless Our Troops and May God Bless America.)
And as Jeff so eloquently said, “And may we, who do not fight, never stop being the kind of people who are worth fighting for.”
That is a line that hits "home" as it should.
AMEN!
Im glad you posted that Juju, you beat me to it!
Thank you for listing them.
I think I have shared this here before. I also think God has heard and answered our prayers to restore our land.
When I look upon the flag
I think of liberty
Of lives lain down in sacrifice
To make a nation free.
▫️
Then I look upon the flag
And think how can it be
That I could be so blessed
That someone died for me.
▫️
Again I look upon the flag
And tears come to my eyes
As I think of all the freedoms lost
And hear our soldiers’ cries.
▫️
For what, they ask, do we risk it all—
So a nation can trample our blood?
No! We serve, we die, to stem the tide
Of oppression roaring as a flood.
▫️
Look upon the flag, my people,
And see the freedom there
Remember what our nation was
And fall to your knees in prayer.
▫️
May God Most High restore this land
And bring us back to Him
And may our flag humbly wave
As a banner of freedom again.
⁃ Janice Powell 2014
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
— John 15:13 NAS95
Beautifully said. God bless our Country and keep all the souls who fought to keep this the Land of the Free because it is the Home of the Brave and Faithful.
Janice, thank you. This is beautiful.
So many more names can be added to this rollcall. It is up to all of us to step forward today and always, bow our heads and speak their names in gratitude for their ultimate sacrifice for our continued freedom.
Beautiful! Thank you ❤️
Thank you! This choked me up and brought tears to my eyes. I cannot help but also remember the 13 U.S. service members were killed at Abbey Gate, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 26, 2021, as well. The number 13 triggered that for me, I’m sure. God Bless them all!
Speaking of Afghanistan, “the graveyard of empires” since Alexander the Great, #NeverForget the whistleblower victim of purportedly accidental “friendly fire” #PatrickTillman.
There is a saying, “Heroes aren’t forgotten until their names are no longer spoken.” Let us resolve to not let that happen on our watch. Rest in Peace, fallen warriors, and may God comfort the families left behind, especially those whose broken hearts are only a few months into their journey of grief.
Yes. And too, let #US #NeverForget the 34 killed in the traitorous #LBJ enabled “accidental” (read intentional) Israeli air and sea attack on the #USSLiberty in international waters off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula on June 8th, 1967.
Guy, that is a beautiful post. I’d love to quote you, if I may. That sentiment is what I so often feel when reading stories of the fallen, and was never able to articulate.
By all means. Thank you for saying so.
It really touched me!
Thank you.
Thank for posting the names of our heroes. May God grant peace to their loved ones.
Thank you
"Some events are in the area of the Soul where words cannot penetrate."
Neal Cassady
Our finest and bravest. May they rest in eternal peace and glory.
Amen.
Thank you for sharing their names so we may remember them in our prayers for comfort to their families. Amen
Thank you for posting their names here.
Thank you for your post
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Here's another list that should be mourned. This is about 1/3rd of the total.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/names-and-ages-children-iranian-school-strike
1. Hana Dehqani, eight years old
2. Fatemeh Salari, 34 years old
3. Reza Habashian, seven years old
4. Arya Bahadori, nine years old
5. Ali Asghar Zaeri, eight years old
6. Zahra Bahrami, seven years old
7. Ahmad Soltani, eight years old
8. Hamed Par-ashegh-nezhad, seven years old
9. Fatemeh Yazdan-panah, young girl, age unknown
10. Mahdis Nazari, seven years old
11. Athena Chamani-nezhad, six years old
12. Amirghasem Zaeri, seven years old
13. Fatemeh Dorazehi, 10 years old
14. Arad Ahmadizadeh, eight years old
15. Saman Karimzadeh, seven years old
16. Fatemeh Shahdadi, age unknown
17. Nadia Shahmiri, nine years old
18. Parham Ranjbari, nine years old
19. Mahmoud Gholamyani, 35 years old
20. Fatemeh Rahdar, 10 years old
21. Amir-Hassan Rasouli, eight years old
22. Zahra Behrouzi, eight years old
23. Mohammadhatam Raisi, 10 years old
24. Asna Raisi, 12 years old
25. Benyamin Jangjou, eight years old
26. Mohammad-Sadra Zarei, eight years old
27. Maryam Pazark, 10 years old
28. Liana Mohammadi, seven years old
29. Mandana Salari, 29 years old
30. Sara Shayesteh, five years old
31. Zoha Pasand, eight years old
32. Esra Zakeri, nine years old
33. Salma Zakeri, six years old
34. Fatemeh Taherifard, 29 years old
35. Zahra Ansari, seven years old
36. Fatemeh Fadavi, 10 years old
37. Mahna Zarei, two months old
38. Athareh Zarei, 10 years old
39. Alireza Zarei, nine years old
40. Mohammadreza Shahsavari, eight years old
41. Samira Basarde, 38 years old
42. Ehsan Saleminia, six years old
43. Fatemeh Zahra Karimi, seven years old
44. Zeynab Bahrami, 10 years old
45. Mohammad Shah-dousti, eight years old
46. Reza Barani, seven years old
47. Athena Ahmadzadeh, 10 years old
48. Khadijeh Darvishi, nine years old
49. Roqayyeh Karimi, 42 years old
50. Reza Ranjbar, six years old
51. Marzieh Bashiri-far, 38 years old
52. Mohammad-Mehdi Chegini, 10 years old
53. Mohammadian Bahrami, 17 years old
54. Ali-Akbar Karyani Pak, eight years old
55. Hananeh Mehdikhah, seven years old
56. Fereshteh Sangarzadeh, 44 years old
57. Mohammad-Ali Karyani Pak, seven years old
58. Parsa Mokhtari-nasab, 12 years old
59. Arina Arab-Kish, eight years old
60. Makan Nasiri, 12 years old
61. Esra Farahi-Zadeh, young girl, age unknown
Memorial Day is for remembering US fallen soldiers. Iran should absolutely mourn their dead. Funny how you didn't mention the 10's of thousands killed by Iranians for protesting their tyrannical government.
Please stop with the "10's of thousands" nonsense. The "30,000 dead" came from a very dodgy source:
https://thegrayzone.com/2026/02/01/guardian-iranian-death-toll-concocted-monarchist-doctors/
The number is about 3,000 which included 400-500 police. The peaceful protesters were used as cover by armed goons who killed a lot of police resulting is a lot of fire back. It's bad enough as it is so there's no need to exaggerate or embellish.
I'm sure the Ayatollahs and the IRGC will like your post. After all, that's where the "measley" 3,000 number came from.
And the 30,000? The prime evidence is "They always cover up and only report 10%" by some dodgy fashion blogger.
Where did that 30,000 number come from. See if you can find anything predating her claim.
We do not mourn the dead of Islamists. Your figure is bogus.
Glad you cleared that up. Now I understand why you didnt mention that measly number.
Hardly "measly". 3k dead is appalling. No love for theocracy in general or the Iran regime in particular after what they did to the Bahai.
That doesn't excuse the USA+Israel attack as being just plain wrong (along with plain stupid).
I guess you missed that 2,400 of the dead were killed by the US-backed rioters.
You can hardly blame that on the regime.
Mrs. RW
I saw an Iranian woman who said that the "school kids" were actually females who were killed protesters. That the IRGC kept the female bodies for such a time to make this claim. I don't know if it's true or not just as you don't know whether what you are saying is true but based on previous actions I'd believe the woman before any part of the Iranian news or government.
BTW did you see the video of the man having a melt down about his dead son? He was so busy being hysterical, he didn't notice the kid scratching an itch on his foot. Probably just one of those muscle twitches after death??? 🤔
I saw it! And many more still going on today.
I don't think you understand the reason for Memorial Day. It is to observe the sacrifices of our military who made the ultimate sacrifice. It is a specific remembrance for those who protected this nation with the last measure a person can give.
"who protected this nation" - Sadly they did nothing of the sort and their lives were wasted in vain.
Until we stop falling for the same reasons for war and implement Smed's ideas there will be a lot more dead to "respect". Sadly I don't see that happening and it wasn't a "sacrifice". It was the sad end of manipulated individuals who fought wars based on lies they were told.
My response still stands: You do not understand the reason for Memorial Day and your response has made that very clear.
I do. Remember those who died "serving" YOUR country. Others do the same. But nothing ever changes and more dead are created. How about we try old Smed's idea?
My grandfather barely survived the Battle of the Somme in WW1. He spent 6 months recovering in a London hospital, then picked up his family and moved to America.
One of my aunt's teachers asked him to come speak to her class about war, no doubt expecting platitudes about the glory and honor of war.
Instead, my grandfather told the class that he had no idea why he was sent off to kill German youth. He said "I had nothing against those boys".
Heretic!
He was never invited to speak again, according to my aunt.
Paul Valery nailed it:
“War is a place where young people who don’t know each and don’t hate each other but kill each other, based on decisions made by people who know each other and hate each other, but don’t kill each other.”
Mrs. RW
While this true, We should not lessen their sacrifice. I could say the same about children of divorce, "......people who hate each other sacrificing their children's security and mental well being to further own ego's and or sexual gratification."
Agree with that. The parents should always think of the children first.
Mrs. RW
To be fair, there was little point to WW1, and most of us can only say "well, there were all these treaties..."
The Somme was one of the bloodiest and most senseless battles of all time.
There was no point, and yet, the orders of the rulers led to the deaths of millions. That makes it worse, imo.
And yeah, I grew knowing that my grandpa had almost been killed in the Battle of the Somme, but didn't have a clue what that battle was until I was an adult. It started on July 1, as I recall, and he was injured in September.
WTF? Why were they still fighting?
Anyway, it just solidifies my anti-war feeling.
Mrs. RW
I cannot see how it's worth it to you to do what you do here on Coffee and Covid.
Whomever pays you are sick.
Speaking to TRM, eh?
I’ll bet he’s voluntarist, unlike the Hasbarists in Apartheid Zionist Occupying Intransigent Criminal AZOIC Israel’s paid trolls in their Unit 8200.
Sort of voluntarist LOL. It's a point of view I agree with but am unsure about the implementation of. The devil's always in the details.
Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Thomas Massie type stomping grounds politically.
Yep. Agreed.
We’re behooved to vociferously support #Israelidissidents, nee refusniks. They’re our humane allies in our new #UnitedFront (#UF!) of #Resistance to the #LeviathanOfAuthoritarianism (ref. GrantPeeples.com).
Ours is an #Independent & strictly nonviolent #RevolutionOfAwareness for #FreeingTruth (ref. Bollyn.com & John 8:32, respectively).
Our task is to #HoldFast to #HealthySkepticism and, excepting the unacceptable political IDIOTology of #FascistZionism, to eschew Soul-corroding cynicism.
Regular recitation of the #SerenityPrayer is #NEARLY a requirement to maintain a salubrious #AttitudeOfGratitude.
#Ty4Reading.
#PleaseSubscribe4More.
LewALincolnWelge.com
#CREATORS (Counselor Reconciler Educator Activist Truther Organizer Reader Socializer) Independent candidate for #Florida’s House of Representatives, district 22.
TRM, this is neither the time nor the place. But then people like you are never appropriate.
When is the place and time? How many more soldiers dead and vets we fail to care for when they are maimed?
"people like you are never appropriate" - Correct. We are thick as a brick. We will ask questions of authority and refuse to go along when lied to. Not smarter, just able to say "No" and stand our ground come hell or high water.
We will question everything and everyone regardless of the authorities or other people's reactions. It's just what we are. Jethro Tull had a song for us.
There are over forty thousand American service members whose remains were never returned from WWII.
Today we remember them.
And hundreds of thousands of civilians incinerated in the fire bombing campaigns in Japan & Germany. No remains for their relatives either. The air force general in charge of those operations, Curtis LeMay, said after the war "It's a good thing we won this war or we'd be tried as war criminals". Nice of him to own it.
How about we just say no to deploying troops outside US territory without the military voting on deployment? That would be the ultimate "spanner in the works".
Think of the irony. A famous, heavily decorated, military general had a solution to the very military industrial complex problem we now face and nobody wants to try it.
It sounds like the US Navy command is the reason the US didn't go charging into the Valley of Death......er, the Hormuz Strait when ordered. Rumors are that they refused to do something that stupid and suicidal.
Big props to them.
Mrs. RW
It's easier to have a rational conversation about atrocities long ended wars, because the fog-of-war has ended, and those who were responsible are not in power. The "allies" certainly killed too many Germany and Japanese civilians. I'm sure in a few cases many enemy civilian deaths could have been avoided without endangering any allied troops.
But by the time we got to the point in the war where we could firebomb Dresden and Tokyo, the leaders, generals and admirals had seen more carnage that we could imagine. I don't feel like I can judge them for not giving a shit about enemy civilian lives anymore.
Obviously, President Trump hasn't seen the amount of carnage that Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, Prime Minister Churchill and the various generals and admirals had seen. On the other hand, don't go comparing the accidental strike on a school with the intentional firebombing of entire cities.
"On the other hand, don't go comparing the accidental strike on a school with the intentional firebombing of entire cities" - I'm not. At least Curtis owned it.
"by the time we got to the point in the war where we could firebomb Dresden and Tokyo" - Yea that was when the concept of "total war" became accepted, then anything goes. All sides do it.
Problem is it's now nuclear. And yes Israel will use theirs. Anyone would. To quote an old Soviet general "Nobody stops shooting until all bullets in gun are gone".
In the case of Dresden, the US had only entered that war 6 months before. And Dresden had no military value. It was going to be captured by the Soviets, so the Brits and Americans firebombed it. Kurt Vonnegut was there, as a POW. He wrote a book about it.
After they stormed the beaches of Normandy, they bombed the villages of France that were in the way of their race to Berlin.
The US killed more French civilians than the Germans did, and the irony is that all that rubble slowed them down.
Mrs. RW
The firebombing of Dresden took place Feb 13-15, 1945, more than 3 years after the US joined WW2.
I'm not going to spend time fact checking anything else after that HUGE miss.
1st edit to add: I will say that the question of who killed more French civilians is kind of strange. The Germans didn't consider (most of) the French to be subhuman, so they didn't go about killing them en masse, except for Jews, Gypsies and gays. I would expect that if you count THOSE, the Germans killed a lot more civilians than the allies did. Maybe I'll look into it later.
The Germans DID consider the Polish, Ukrainians and Russians subhuman, and killed them en masse.
2nd edit to add - of course the Germans didn't need to kill French civilians as they rolled in to occupy France. France pretty much rolled over. The allies DID have to fight their way through it to get to Germany.
Do you even hear yourself?
Wow, the hate here is palpable.
American exceptionalism - American lives mean something, but other people's don't.
The US wouldn't have most of the war deaths it's had if it didn't go all over the world starting wars and fomenting chaos.
It is entirely possible to deplore war and still be conservative. In fact, it is the more sensible position.
"Mattress sales and store hours." So true. It's actually gruesome.
Thank you for your very common decency and thank you for remembering those who died in this latest war with Iran. May God bless the USA🇺🇸🇺🇸
I hope you will reprint this every Memorial Day, the last few lines especially. Thank you.
DITTO.
My father was a WW2 veteran that at one point lost his whole platoon, 49 men one night in Germany. He ended up getting a field promotion to 2nd sergeant. He went on to fight in the battle of the Bulge, was shot in the back, sent to England, where a surgeon removed a lung and saved his life. Because of his sacrifice he died when I was just 20.
When I think of the shysters like Fauci or Morens or people like Joe Biden or Bill Clinton who sold the Chinese super computers, missile technology and nuclear technology that allowed them to pinpoint targets in the U.S., for a one million dollar donation to his 2nd campaign, I get sick to my stomach.
The people that sell out America for personal profit piss on the graves of those who gave so much to keep this country and its citizens free. And look where they have taken this world. Europe is lost. I’m not sure what we are protecting them from, communism? They put people in jail for thinking what the government considers wrongly. I only hope the Trump administration continues to prosecute and jail these traitors. I think it’s our only chance and the world’s only chance for survival.
"may we, who do not fight, never stop being the kind of people who are worth fighting for" - Amen
That line is when the tears rolled up...
Same. And because of that many of us are requoting it here in comments. It hits just right.
Yupp got me too
IKR?
Me too.
100% agree James.
I am glad to hear Trumpie has "repositioned" 5000 troops from Germany into Poland. . . hopefully, his precursor to permanent retrenchment the world over!
Don’t forget $83 billion in state of the art weaponry left behind in Afghanistan. That’s American lives right there.
Second that.
Well said, James.
Damn well said James! Thank you.
My mother was a tough ole bird (respectfully). The only time I saw her cry in her 84 years (with the exceptions of her husband's and sons' funerals) was on Memorial Day. Her only brother was a pilot in WW2, shot down and never recovered.
It is good that we can remember those who have sacrificed all for the freedoms we so often take for granted. Freedom isn't free with the exception of our Lord and Savior Jesus. His sacrifice is the free gift for all who would believe. True freedom is found only in Him. May God Bless and give His peace to all those who have lost loved ones, family and friends in service to protect the freedoms we enjoy.
My grandmother's oldest son, a pilot, was shot down and killed. As a child I did not understand her lack of joy. Not until I was older and read her many personal writings and poems. 💔 Her world was changed forever too.
I was thinking about my Aunt Ruth, who was always sad and depressed when we went to visit her after my own dad died. (1970’s). I never seemed to understand why until I realized she was mourning the loss of her son Roy “Butch” Griffin who died in Vietnam when his truck hit a roadside bomb. I was only 8 at the time. As a mother now, I can see how her sacrifice and loss profoundly affected the rest of her life. God Bless all who have given their last breath of devotion, and their loved ones who are left behind.
So true. Memorial Day is also a day to honor and love on those left behind. Wives, husbands, children, siblings, friends.
My uncle is on the first wall at the Viet Nam memorial in DC. He died in combat *before* we were officially at war. I remember his widow visiting us in South Dakota. Our very sheltered lives were blown open the day she and her kids arrived. And a month later JFK was murdered. An unsettling and seminal month in our innocent lives.
Thank you. These people deserve to be honored and remembered. The price of freedom is steep indeed, and we need to be reminded how steep and how precious it is.
thanks to you too, doc.
Your "down under" thanks are well received up here.
As is tradition, we are at the lake with family this weekend. To keep us all mindful of why we are able to gather, one member of the family (just returned from France) used AI to learn the backstory of random fallen soldiers, who's graves he photographed last week. We all listened and gave thanks for each fallen American's service and a prayer for the families of our fallen. It was very humbling and I am very proud of this 45 year-old father setting an example for his children and for us Boomers as well.
beautiful
Mr. Childers, thank you for this updated post. As citizenry of this most exceptional country, we have much to be thankful for and much to be thoughtful over in honoring all those who gave their everything to preserve and protect that exceptionalism. Thank God for those who fell to keep us standing free.
Wallace: this needs to be pinned. Excellent!
This battle for freedom belongs to us as well, though it may not be with bullets and bombs (yet), but the insidious and evil efforts and ideology to enslave us mentally, financially and spiritually. We owe it to our forefathers and to our children to resist such darkness which threatens us across the world.
It will take amazing strength and resolve to stand up to those in authority who issue unconstitutional mandates, peddle fear, or seek to divide us and turn us against one another.
May freedom be the light that we share to the rest of the world, and inspire others to ignite that flame as well. Many overseas have a difficult struggle ahead, which inspires us today, and we cheer them on, and we share in their victories as they overcome despotic and tyrannical leaders.
There's is a flame of freedom within each of us. May we help sustain it for all, even if we must sacrifice a little. Or everything.
Our children deserve nothing less.
That last line - "May we never forget the cost of freedom. And may we, who do not fight, never stop being the kind of people who are worth fighting for." - well said, sir. I aim to be the kind of person worth fighting for. May God bless our troops, and you, Jeff. You're fighting a different kind of battle - for us. Making us aware of what's really happening on the front lines, fighting and defending what's right, all with a perfect balance of humor and sarcasm.
Cheers Jeff for a well written blog today.
May their memory be a blessing.
and I will also second that!
God Bless America.
God bless America and may his mercies always be shown upon us.
And even more so may we always be worthy and deserving of his mercies.
I second that JC.
Happy memorial Day.
And a reminder to AOC, stay in NY and don't pull up. https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/dont-listen-to-aoc-mane-dont-pull
Aoc and the Squad are bloody idiots
My uncle, Walter Cizek, the most promising of my grandmother’s four surviving children, died in the battle of the bulge, shortly after I was born. War is hell, in so many ways.
Maybe it’s time to transcend the usual “history” approach re war, and focus on the real why? And who really was at fault? “Qui bono”-ed? . . Is the enemy really us, Pogo?
For some reason, I still have the metal box that contained Walter’s medic first aid kit, on my book shelf, I can’t seem to get rid of it.
It is understandable that you would hold on to this personal item that belonged to your uncle. He should not be forgotten. Thank you for telling us about him.
I have the battered, tiny volume of the Army-issued New Testament and Psalms given to my father, a gunnery sergeant in the European theater in World War II. I cannot part with it.
Don’t ever get rid of that box. That is something to keep and treasure for a lifetime. My father survived WWII (Army Infantry, Pacific theater) but died at age 53 of ALS. He would never speak about his jungle experiences in any detail, especially to his daughters. Sadly, when he retired after 23 years of service (to avoid almost certain deployment to Vietnam), and we left Ft Benning, the movers lost the box containing most of his Army memorabilia and records.
That’s so sad! I’m so sorry those precious items were lost. 😢
Maybe write a note and put it inside explaining the meaning and story behind the box for future generations.
05/25/26: Never "get rid of it." Keep it forever in your family. It's your family's Medal of Honor.
If WWI had been handled differently, WWII would not have happened. And WWI seemed pointless in the fist place. Once the World's leaders had made the choices they did, now, a huge sacrifice became necessary to protect freedom. But I wish we could learn the lesson from history to avoid such circumstances.
I do think some war and sacrifice will always be necessary to preserve freedom and I appreciate those who fight for it. The scale of loss should never be so high though as it was in the world wars.
The Greatest Story Never Told - explains a lot. War is first of all an assault of propaganda.
"War is first of all an assault of propaganda."
When I was growing up Americans lived in daily constant fear of the Russians, the godless Communists whose sole objective was to kill all Americans and destroy the United States. We were so bombarded with continual fear of Communists that American children trained for the imminent Russian attack. “Duck and cover.”
When Americans were completely convinced that if we did not attack a country the size of Rhode Island, we would wake up to Communist soldiers on our doorsteps raping our women and killing our children, we went to war in Viet Nam, because America HAD to “STOP THE SPREAD OF COMMUNISM”.
Years later we would find out that the real reason we went to war in Viet Nam was because unfortunately for those Vietnamese people, Viet Nam had the largest poppy fields in the world. And those poppy fields were cutting into the Evil’s South American drug industry.
Do you know which country has the largest poppy fields in the world now?
Afghanistan.
All wars are Banker's wars.
100%
We've been propagandized our entire lives. It's only now that we're starting to realize the extent of it. Russia, Cuba, Iraq, now Iran and Venezuela.
Most of the people here don't see it yet.
"we've been propagandized our entire lives."
When Nazi war criminal Herman Goering was asked "What if the people don't agree with a war?":
“The people can always be brought to the bidding of the Leaders. That is easy.
All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.” - Hermann Goering, Nuremberg Trials 1946
Viet Nam: thank the evil gnome known as Henry Kissinger (not his real name).
Wars, slavery in service to the drug trade - one of which was derived from the sugar cane.
https://jovanhuttonpulitzer.locals.com/upost/7913383/7-pm-cst-what-was-the-civil-war-really-fought-over-the-truth-about-slavery-you-never-were-taught
Thank you! This is a typical example of how the USG takes the American people to war over and over again. The USG is not our government. It is a government of the elites, by the elites and for the elites. Every time the American people start to figure that out, they switch up the narrative, create a new crisis and then offer us a "patriotic" solution. This is true in every case whether it be Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Lyndon Johnson, George Bush (both Iraq and Afghanistan) or Donald Trump. Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain saw the truth of this in 1899 and opposed the Spanish-American War; US Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler experienced the truth of this and published "War Is A Racket" in 1935; having served in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower ended his Presidency by warning America of the Military-Industrial Complex; and finally, John F Kennedy was the last American President to oppose leading the country into foreign wars and he was assassinated for his efforts! That message has not been lost on subsequent Presidents.
Indeed! Why do we have wars? We obligingly supply our children to these wars who then come home injured or in a box. We then lionize as "heroes" all those that gave their all as "patriotic" Americans to a war whose justification was defending our liberty when the conflict in question was never about "our" liberty to begin with. Yet the last time America was actually attacked was the war of 1812. Every war the USG has taken us into since then, including the Civil War, has been a war of aggression and not a war in defense of the country. Until we answer the above question, this cycle of violence will never end. In reality, war is almost always simply politics by other means.
At the following link in a 13 minute video, a clear thinking British citizen speaks the truth about what is happening in England, Europe and the United States. See if you don't agree.
https://nakedemperor.substack.com/p/busy-weekend-trump-skips-sons-wedding
Great video, that guy should be in parliament.
They'd prolly throw him in prison for "hate speech".
Pearl Harbor?
A black flag excuse for war just as there was with every other war. Think 9/11. FDR was elected by America on the promise that he would not get America involved in the war in Europe. America had just finished fighting the previous European war we call WWI and the American people wanted no more of that. But FDR wanted to be a "War President" and schemed to get America into the "new" European war by blockading Japan (which by the way IS an act of war) and provoking her to attack our fleet in the Pacific. Unknown to Japan, the US had long broken Japan's communications code (which I think they made a movie out of) and knew exactly when and where she was going to attack. So FDR sent the carrier groups out of port and only kept a few expendable ships in the harbor as bait that would be sacrificed in order to galvanize the American people for war. He had his famous "Day in infamy" speech written before the first bomb fell on Pearl Harbor. SAME song and dance before every war.
If we are such a great DEMOCRACY, why aren't we "allowed" to vote on whether or not we should go to war??????? The answer to that changes everything.
Let us remember those who died for our country and be thankful and not take for granted those who came home safely. Thanks for a great column.
My take:
In Flanders Fields (third stanza herewith)
"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."
Today is the day for that. The other stuff for another'
There’s a beautiful song called “Tell My Father” from the play The Civil War that my husband plays on the mandolin & guitar. He is Retired AF & today is a holy day for us. This song will make you cry.
Tell my father that his son
Didn't run, nor surrender
That I bore his name with pride
As I tried to remember
You are judged by what you do
While passing through
As I rest 'neath fields of green
Let him lean on your shoulder
Tell him how I spent my youth
So the truth could grow older
Tell my father when you come
I was a man
Tell him we will meet again
Where the angels learn to fly
Tell him we will meet as men
For with honour did I die
Tell him how I wore the blue
Proud and true, through the fire
Tell my father so he'll know
I love him so
Tell him how I wore the blue
Proud and true, like he taught me
Tell my father not to cry
Then say goodbye”
Songwriters: Frank Wildhorn / Jack F. Murphy
Here’s the YouTube link for the song. https://youtu.be/Pt-P7YNbj7s?si=3oXvxcxW5xdEhRly
That brought tears to my eyes 😢💔
If you ever get the chance, you can listen to many of the songs of this musical on YouTube. We have the CD & listened yesterday & cried. It’s a little reminder for the sacrifices so many have made back to the Revolutionary War.
Ditto.
😭
Okay that made me cry.
The whole musical is like this song! 🎵
Well, you were right about the tears. 😢
Ha! Happy I could make you cry! It’s bittersweet tears. Thankful of our freedom but grieving for the ultimate sacrifice. 💔
Lovely, and much appreciated by this woman whose dad fought (pilot, B17s), and whose family has fought for this country since the Revolutionary War. Well, there was a side trip in the Civil War, but they were fighting then for their land and their ideals. This legacy continues with current grandchildren. LIke many today, I want my country back.
Louisa, like you, my family on both sides has been in this country well before the Revolution (1620's & 1750's). My ancestors fought and died in every war this country fought through Vietnam. We have lost a few good men along the way. I still have a nephew serving in the USAF overseas. Several career veterans, now retired, are in the family.
I left out my oldest nephew, Greg, who served 2 Afghanistan & 2 Iraqi tours. He was wounded twice, awarded the Purple Heart twice, awarded, the Silver Star, & 2 Bronze Stars. He was Army Special Forces, Air Assault and retired about 12 years ago. All of 3 of his stars were awarded for heroism under fire... for rescuing individual squad members from fire... Trapped in the open after being shot & disabled. The Silver Star AFTER he had taken multiple rounds through his shoulder, he still rescued his comrade-in-arms from harm's way without regard for his own safety.
Amazing!
Thanks for sharing. It is a good day for remembering them.
Your last sentence; how powerful. Thank you, Jeff.
On Memorial Day: In honor of my brother, James H. DeMent. Jr., who will be buried at West Point on July 6. He commanded a B-52 crew of six airmen in the 99th Bomber Wing during the Vietnam War, flying more than 160 combat missions during the "Arc Light" campaign.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and eight Air Medals.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/timesdispatch/name/james-dement-obituary?id=61064382
May God bring peace and comfort to your family. God bless you, Susan.
Thank you so much.
May your brother rest in peace. God grant you & your family Grace.
Thank you very much.
Thank you Jeff for today's post. I was not a reader/subscriber at this time last year, so this is a new post to me.
Today I recognize all my relatives and friends who paid the ultimate price. My Father and Uncle two Wisconsin farm boys who served and came back forever changed. My Uncle was a mechanic on planes; my father cataloged the dead. My friends Jimmy & Dale, both served in Vietnam, Jimmy passed years later from the crap he was exposed to. Dale still carries the memories, and they haunt him.
Freedom isn't free, it is paid by men and women who stepped up so that we can have the freedoms and the benefit of living in America, still the best Nation on earth. In the next few days, I will go back to waging an internal war against the Left who chooses to tear down instead of building up our Country. But today, and yes for all days, I thank those who paid the price for my Freedoms.