Hey all, of course today is a busy day for most people with Bar-B-Ques and family get togethers and hopefully everyone is taking time to remember what Memorial Day is really about and recognizing the sacrifice of so many men and women who laid down their lives to protect our freedoms and our great country. No words can express my gratitude for these patriots and heroes.
God bless you all on this solemn day and Godspeed to our men and women in harms way.

I don’t have much more to say so please take a look at a few items that capture the meaning of Memorial day for me.

The history of Memorial day:

The story of Memorial Day begins in the summer of 1865, when a prominent local druggist, Henry C. Welles, mentioned to some of his friends at a social gathering that while praising the living veterans of the Civil War it would be well to remember the patriotic dead by placing flowers on their graves. Nothing resulted from this suggestion until he advanced the idea again the following spring to General John B. Murray. Murray, a civil war hero and intensely patriotic, supported the idea wholeheartedly and marshalled veterans’ support. Plans were developed for a more complete celebration by a local citizens’ committee headed by Welles and Murray.

On May 5, 1866, the Village was decorated with flags at half mast, draped with evergreens and mourning black. Veterans, civic societies and residents, led by General Murray, marched to the strains of martial music to the three village cemeteries. There impressive ceremonies were held and soldiers’ graves decorated. One year later, on May 5, 1867, the ceremonies were repeated. In 1868, Waterloo joined with other communities in holding their observance on May 30th, in accordance with General Logan’s orders. It has been held annually ever since.

HT/Hugh Hewitt

The first casualty of the Cold War:

Capt. John Morrison Birch

In the spring of 1942, a group of stranded U.S. servicemen huddled inside a Chinese riverboat, hiding from Japanese soldiers in the invaded country. Suddenly, they heard what seemed to be an American voice: “Anyone in there?” The hidden men feared trickery and capture until they heard the voice again; it was a full-blown Southern accent.

That voice belonged to missionary John Morrison Birch, and the men he rescued from the boat were Col. Jimmy Doolittle and his famed “Tokyo Raiders.” Birch brought the group down the Chienteng River to the town of Lanchi, from where they were able to move on to safety.

Doolittle was much taken with the young missionary, whose native garb and near-fluent grasp of Mandarin Chinese allowed him to continue his goal of bringing the Christian gospel to the Chinese mainland despite its occupying force. Birch had sought a position as a chaplain, but when Doolittle told Gen. Claire Chennault about his rescuer, Chennault recognized Birch’s potential as an intelligence resource. Commissioned a first lieutenant on July 4, 1942, Birch became “the eyes of the 14th Air Force (the Flying Tigers)” — with a stipulation that he be allowed to preach whenever possible.

By war’s end, Birch had achieved the rank of captain and his duties had come under the spreading auspices of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

Shortly after the war ended, Birch and a party of 11 Chinese were sent by the OSS to accept the surrender of a Japanese base. On Aug. 25, 1945, they met a group of Chinese communists who refused to allow them to pass. They disarmed Birch, and shot his aide Lt. Tung when he tried to intervene (Tung lived to tell the tale of Birch’s treatment). Birch’s ankles were bound and he was made to kneel for execution, then shot in the back of his head. Birch, who had spent the war working behind enemy lines to serve both God and country, is considered by many to be the first casualty of the Cold War.

1st Lt. Michael Blassie

After Years As Vietnam ‘Unknown,’ Pilot Now Buried At Home

For decades, the United States has honored its wartime dead by designating for burial at Arlington National Cemetery an unknown soldier, one whose anonymous tomb represents all the dead comrades and honors all their deeds.

For 14 years, the remains of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie lay beneath the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington. The nature of combat in Vietnam and advances in forensic medicine had made it difficult for officials to bury a Vietnam unknown. Unidentified remains from that war had been analyzed over a decade and a half. No one wanted to inter someone who might eventually be identified.

The president meant to assure families of soldiers with MIA status that their loved ones would not be forgotten, but his words were prescient of the Vietnam unknown’s fate. “X-26″ remained in Arlington with his unknown comrades, watched by the solemn Old Guard, until 1998, when new questions about Blassie’s whereabouts surfaced. His sister Pat described the evidence succinctly: “The trail leads to the tomb.” In May 1998, the remains were disinterred for mitochondrial DNA “fingerprinting.” Advances made since the early 1980s had made it possible to identify the remains, which consisted of only six bones — far below the usual 80 percent of a corpse required for burial at Arlington.

Blassie, a decorated pilot, was 24 when he died in May 1972. His 138th combat mission ended near An Loc, South Vietnam, when the wing was blasted off his plane by enemy fire. The aircraft went down in flames.

On July 10, 1998, Michael Blassie’s body was released to his family. They brought him home for burial in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery near St. Louis. There, a plaque holds words from the Gettysburg Address: “We can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have hallowed it far above our poor power to add or detract.”

Visit Military.com for these stories and many many others of valiant, men and women who sacrifced much and sometimes everything for our country.

The Only Medal of Honor awarded in Iraq or Afghanistan:

The most recent act to merit the Medal of Honor came on April 4, 2003. On that day, Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith, his position near the Baghdad airport nearly overrun, hastily organized a defense.

Under fire, Smith climbed onto a damaged armored vehicle and attacked the enemy with a .50-caliber machine gun. He killed as many as 50 enemy soldiers and helped save the lives of 100 Americans.

On April 4, 2005, President Bush presented the Medal of Honor to Smith’s widow, Birgit.

Home Of The Heroes has lots of fantastic and moving information about the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. Among them is a list of every recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor in our nations history.

A very special tribute to a fallen hero that I was blessed to witness personally.

This Thursday I was in Las Vegas for the SEMA Show. I attended the awards banquet that evening. It was your usual trade show banquet. What completely stole the show however was the unveiling of The Colton Camaro. On September 1, 2004, Gary Anderson the President of SoffSeal, Inc, and his wife were watching the Evening News with Dan Rather. That night Their Fallen Hero’s series featured the story of Chief Warrant Officer Lawrence (Shane) Colton of the Army’s 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, based in Fort Hood, Texas. The Feature told how Chief Warrant Officer Colton lost his life in Iraq on April 11th, 2004 when his Apache helicopter was shot down west of Baghdad while protecting a fuel convoy, killing him and his fellow crewmember. Shane Colton left behind his wife Inge` and their eleven year old son Lance.

The story moved Mr. Anderson to action when it mentioned how CWO Colton and his then 11 year old son Lance had started building a 1968 Camaro before he was deployed to Iraq. The news reported that with his father’s passing, Lance now wanted to finish the car in his father’s honor.

The project culminated this Thursday when the car was unveiled at the SEMA Banquet. When Mrs. Colton and Lance came on stage the crowed erupted in applause. She said a few words in remembrance of her husband and gave a very heartfelt and moving thank you to everyone involved in the project. When asked if he would like to say anything Lance replied: “My dad died for a great cause. He did not die in vein.” When asked if the car met his fathers specifications. He said “As long as it doesn’t catch on fire when it starts up its good”.

At that moment there were no political parties. We were all just proud to be Americans who felt privileged to be present at such a moving event, Mournful for the Colton’s loss and Chief Warrant Officer Colton’s sacrifice.

Here is a story that a Vietnam veteran passed on to me titled The Last Goodbye.

The Last Goodbye By Lynne Duke

They lie in a pile on the red clay of Vietnam.

Four dead men. One already is smoldering. The elephant grass is on fire. Three other Marines are still alive for now, but if the North Vietnamese Army doesn’t get them, the fires surely will.

It is late morning, May 10, 1967, on Hill 665 northwest of Khe Sanh. A Marine reconnaissance patrol named Breaker is in trouble, picked off or blasted apart for 12 hours by NVA snipers and grenades.

U.S. forces throw hellfire onto that hill. Jets crater the area. Gunships rocket enemy bunkers; Gatling guns fire 6,000 rounds per minute, pulverizing flesh and bone. And the napalm fires burn.

But the NVA is relentless. It turns chopper after chopper into Swiss cheese. One takes 182 hits, wounding the whole crew; in another, a pilot dies.

Moving posts on this Memorial Day:

Michelle Malkin: Freedom Isn’t Free, Riehl World View: The History of Haditha, Patriot Files has a list of servicemen who have been awarded medals for their distinguished service in Iraq and Afghanistan in Hall Of Heroes. Wizbang has 2 posts you should read. The first is titled Remember and contains lots of links to other Memorial Day posts. The second is Go and Find a Soldiers Grave by Kim Priestap. HT/ to Jay Tea at Wizbang for a link to a another moving post by Smash also titled Remember. In the post Smash talks about his visit to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetary, where he attended an annual ceremony and planted flags along with several boy scout troops.

Growing up and living most of my life in San Diego I have driven by Fort Rosecrans as Smash describes many many times. I have actually stopped and walked among the graves and thought about the men burried there. Having never served in the military I can only offer a civilians perspective and tell Smash that I for one never pass that cemetary without being touched by what it represents.

One last link for the day. Smash has a follow up to one of the graves he visited on Saturday. This post is titled Memorial Day: A Mother Remembers.

If this is your first time visiting Smash’s blog I hope you realize what an exceptional man he is and hope you add his blog to your daily reads.

Linking Posts