Memorial Day....

[YellowRose]

Lest we forget..... He hasn't.......

[simplyconnected]

Never Forget...

I want to extend a most heartfelt thanks to the brave men and women who have served, and continue to serve, in our Armed Forces. When they chose to step forward and answer the call of duty and protect our nation, they and their families sacrificed everything. We should all be thankful for what they do and what they have done.

[Jimz Bird]

Thankful for the protection.

This is my first Memorial Day back in the States for several years.

I am personally thankful for all the fine and brave GIs that are still putting their lives on the line daily in various Hellholes around the world.

Also for the - and this might sound strange - Ugandans. There was a contingent of them that manned our perimeter guard towers and the access points to our Camp Cropper compound. While not as well geared up as our GIs, there is just something about a group of Ugandans with AK47s that helps make you feel a bit more secure.

I have come to believe, more so after being there, that it is time to conserve our resources - both money and mostly young lives - and let that part of the World sort out their own problems for a while. They are neither culturally nor even far enough along socially to not destroy themselves. They don't look at our benevolence as anything but weakness. We cannot resolve the Sunni/Shia issue. THEY must do that. It may be doubtful that they ever will but until then we cannot choose one or the other as they will turn on us in a split-second as they all have in the past.

It is evident that the US has repeatedly chosen poorly when it comes to "friends" in that part of the World.

Regardless, I am thankful they were there to protect me while I was there.

To all the Army folks, a big HOOAH and to the Marines a big OORAH!!!

Thanks to the Air Force and Navy also but there it is the "ground-pounders" that carry the day.

[YellowRose]

Memorial Day....

To Jim and everyone else on here who has served our country in the fight for freedom, past and present... Thank you for your service!

[lawyercalif]

I also would like to acknowledge and thank all that served and continue to serve. I especially would like to acknowledge the remaining World War II veterans, some of which continue to serve. Such as Fred Nelson, Lt Col, CAP.

Fred is in my Civil Air Patrol Squadron. For those of you not familiar with the CAP, it is the all volunteer United States Air Force Auxillary. We provide search and rescue for lost aircraft in the United States for the Air Force.

In WWII Fred Nelson was a tail gunner in a bomber. He was shot down over Italy. He evaded the Germans. Joined up with Italian partisans and finally made it back to our lines to fight again. Fred is now in his eighties and is still a pilot. He continues to volunteer his service to his country and stands as an excellent example of what the word "patriot" means. To Fred and all those that are now serving or have ever served, Thank You.

I especially would like to remember and thank my father Master Sergeant Lawrence E. Hough, who not only served in both the European and Pacific theatres during WWII, but also in Korea and the Vietnam conflict, putting in over 25 years with the U.S. Army. God Rest His Soul!

[YellowRose]

Memorial Day....

Daniel, thank you for your post and for sharing the story of Lt. Col Nelson. That is awesome! My next to the oldest brother, Al, is or was active in the CAP for many years. He was one of some 120 Navy Corpsmen who graduated from Bethesda Naval Hospital at the beginning of the Korean War. He was with the Marines in Korea. 108 Navy Corpsmen were killed in action in Korea. He was one of the few who made it back, though most of them were wounded, him included... Our military found that wearing a Red Cross on your helmet meant nothing to our enemies in Korea. They figured that if you killed one medic perhaps 20 Marines would die due to lack of care... 830 medics of the Army Medical Service had been killed and another 3,270 were wounded.

After a number of years of recovery, he later became a minister (which was a big surprise to the family! You would have to know Al) and became active in the CAP, as a flying Chaplain. He flew all over the place and at one time, flew with the Blue Angels as a guest, as I recall. I know that when among Marines, and if they find out he was with the Marines at Frozen Chosin, and other places, there is nothing they will not do for him... Marines so highly honor their fellow Navy Corpsmen, as I am sure the Army also does... Eight Navy Corpsmen and Army Medics were awarded the Medal Of Honor in Korea. Most of them posthumorously, as they died trying to save their wounded comrades.

I will have to ask him if he is still flying, as he is now in his early 80's and if he is still active in the CAP. Semper Fi! My father served for many years in the Navy, serving mostly on Tin Cans. He retired at the end of WW II as a Chief Petty Officer. My oldest brother put 30 years in the Navy also retiring as a Chief. Me, I joined the Air Force and put 22 years in, part of that time in support of the Korean, and Viet Nam wars, but not in country.

To read more about these heroes go here. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...0/ai_96695804/ Slide down and read their incredible acts of bravery...

[tbird430]

Yes, and great thread guys.

Thanks for sharing these stories too.


A heart filled "THANK YOU" goes out to all those men & women over the years who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy the freedoms & luxuries a lot of us take for granted today.

It was their love for country & unselfishesness that these men & women had- Deep within themselves, that kept them going. To do what was right, so others might live free. That drive, which, in my opinion, makes them true heros.

We'll never forget you.

[lawyercalif]

YellowRose thank you for telling me about your brother. He sounds like an extraordinary person. It is those like him and Fred that makes me proud to be a Lt Col in the Civil Air Patrol. I joined the Air Force when I was seventeen. I never had to serve in War. I became a Vietnam Vet only because my discharge date was four days after the start of the Vietnam War. That paid for most of my law school.

Years later after I became a pilot I learned about the Civil Air Patrol and decided that I still owed the Air Force something because I certainly was not much of an asset when I was in. So I joined and met many great men and women many of them veterans. Some of the greatest have been the Chaplins like your brother. Please thank him for all he has done for this country and for those of us who were fortunate enough never having gone to war.

[YellowRose]

Memorial Day....

Hi Daniel, and thank you for your service! Please thank the Colonel for his also. Thank you for your comments regarding my brother. I will pass them on to him when we speak again. Like you, I joined the Air Force at 17, went to Basic Training in the dead of winter at Sampson AFB, NY and liked to have froze to death, though I was from PA. From there, I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I was sent to Keesler AFB, at Biloxi, MS. After radio school, I was sent to Korea, but never got there. By this time, the war was winding down and I stayed in Japan at Yokota AB, where I really thought I had died and gone to heaven! If you get my drift!.. I worked Ground to Air radio working the B-29's as they did their thing. After 2 years, I went to Houston, where I met my wife and got married. We kicked around various places, including Ohlson Mt. AFS, at Homer, Alaska by myself, where I discovered Squarebirds in a car magazine. Then it was off to Turkey twice, once with my family and once by myself at Diyarbakir in Eastern Turkey. I did a stint inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, then after 3 years I was off to Miyako Jima, off Okinawa at a remote radar site. Then it was to San Antonio, where I eventually retired after spending 5 years as a Drill Instructor (TI) and Academic Instructor. I had a good career. My oldest son recently retired from Cannon AFB as the Base Command Chief Master Sergeant. Before that, he was the Command Chief Master Sergeant for all Air Force personnel in Afghanistan. When he retired, the General he was flying around with in Afghanistan flew in to officially retire him. I am proud of my son's military accomplishments. He was an F-111 armament specialist, later F-16's Quality Control Chief at Cannon and in the Middle East.

[Jimz Bird]

I really thought I had died and gone to heaven! If you get my drift!..

Hmmmm, Could it be "Cigareets & Saki & wild, wild Jo-Sans"?

I did a long tour in Vietnam from March '67 - Oct '68. I was at Cam Rahn Bay for 3 months and then Tuy Hoa on the Coast for 15. I worked on F-4s and F-100s. (Guidance/Navigation/Instrument guy).

At Tuy we could get off base and it was easy to catch a hop on a Chopper all over country. I got to go to Saigon, Nha Trang , Pleiku and some other places. Some of those places are resorts now.

I had a three week TDY to Clark in the PI. It was actually supposed to be 2 weeks but we stretched it out another week "trying" to get a hop back to Saigon. The Shop Chief sent a wire that if we wern't back in 3 days we would be AWOL. We made it. We had some hydralic lines shot out going from Saigon to Tuy and made a forced landing at some remote mountain airfield but that is a story for another time.

I also took a weeks R&R to Taipei, Taiwan.

Needless to say - I still grin when I see cute little Asian girls.

[YellowRose]

Memorial Day....

Yup, you could be right. Not the cigarettes, but the Saki, Nippon beer, Oh Soba and the Jo-sans! There is still a fondness for them! Memories are great!

I almost made it to Can Rahn Bay myself, but I was recovering from knee surgery and the doctor said I could not go because I was still on medical recovery from that. I see you got to see a fair amount of Viet Nam and nearly got "lost" in the PI also! I never got to see Viet Nam but got to see a lot of Honshu in Japan, sometimes by motorcycle. As I said, Memories are great!

[lawyercalif]

I got to spend a week at Nellis AFB last year for some CAP training. When the week was over I did not want to leave, if they would have let me, this old man would have re-enlisted. Looking back those were some really good years.

Thank you YellowRose and JimzBird for your service.