As the sunsets on this MEMORIAL DAY, the third Monday in May 2020, I have a headline from 50 years ago this week… “The National League of POW/MIA Families was incorporated by a group of wives of American servicemen who were listed as prisoners of war or missing in action in the Vietnam War. The emblem of the organization, the POW/MIA flag, would continue to be flown at public locations nearly 50 years after the United States had withdrawn from the war…”(Wikipedia)… Today, that flag flys more broadly and determinedly than ever and the number of warriors unaccounted for from the Vietnam War has been reduced to 1,587, thanks to the Defense POW/MIA accounting Agency…
https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/2195709/memorial-day-2020/
REMEMBERING THOSE WHO PAID THE LAST FULL MEASURE…
MEMORIAL DAY… Is the day that’s set aside each year to remember with gratitude and pride all those who served and died for our country and our freedom. May your day be filled with memories and peace. On this solemn day in 2020 our nation and the world is hunkered down, “staying in place,” and assiduosly striving to keep space, face masks and soap and water between our faces and the scourge of COV-19, or Wuhan Virus as it’s called in this humble abode. Arlington and our national cemeteries are out-of-bounds for all but the families of those resting in peace. Limits on gathering have been imposed to the extreme. How then are we to “keep faith” those this day is meant to remember and honor in a meaningful way?…
“…And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and the final sacrifice.”…President Ronald Reagan…
MAY I OFFER A COURSE OF ACTION for this unusual Memorial Day that will leave you feeling fulfilled as the sun sets on your day of remembering our nation’s fallen warriors? I guarantee it…
I. PREPARATION. Google “Memorial Day Images.” There are more than a hundred of them. Scan through them. Take note of those that express your feelings for those fallen family member (s), shipmates, squadron mates, and others who died while sering our country. Google “Memorial Day Quotations” and do the same. I suggest the forty quotes in the Country Living collection. This is your raw material. Throw all your raw maerial into a mental pot. Stir them around. Compose your own “quotable quote.” One you would feel proud to post on “The Wall” next to the name of your fallen hero. Compose a remembrance that speaks from your heart.
II. ACTION. Identify those fallen warriors you want to individually remember and honor on this 2020 Memorial Day. You will need a full name, rank and service. The date of final sacrifice is also useful in completing your “remembrance” where it will mean the most. I recommend you locate your Vietnam Air War hero in Chris Hobson’s VIETNAM AIR LOSSES, which is maintained on-line at Dave Lovelady’s great website…
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com
Spend a few minutes discovering the details of your hero’s final flight. Then Google “Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund– THE WALL OF FACES.” Type in the name, rank and service of the warrior you seek to honor with a personal remembrance. Follow instructions. Leave your remembrance–include your personal “quotable quote.” How’s that feel?
Have a great day of remembering our nation’s greatest patriots, and especially those you carry in your heart and mind…
Lest we forget…. Bear