Memorial Day

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Brian Williams

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A while back my Dad was telling me about when he was the Whale boat pilot for his ship he would take along a 1911 on the Mail and Payroll runs. The mailman or the Paymaster and his guard took 1911s and the armorer would allow dad to take one along while slipping him a few extra full mags. I wish that I could find that 1911, it would never be sold.
On Monday May 23, 2011 I took my father to see the WWII memorial and this is my Father, a Boatswain's mate 1st, Served on the AO-79 an auxillary fleet oiler in the Pacific, the only oiler hit by a kamikaze. Again he was telling me today about shooting the flotsam and jetsam with a 1911 in the various harbors when he piloted the ships boat on mail and payroll runs. He was also telling me about being on the crew of the 40mm ack-ack gun that helped shoot down the kamikaze.
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The plane hit the ship and the bomb did not explode but rolled around on the aft Avgas hold, Whew, Dad helped throw the bomb and the plane off the ship. Two of his buddies were killed.
He was awful quiet today when I took this pic at the WWII memorial.

WE also got to visit the Tomb of the Unknown soldier, here are a few pics of the guard and the M14 inspection
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Dad passed away a few years ago, he was trained as a Navy tail gunner in an SBD dive bomber, rode behind the pilot manning 30 caliber machine guns. Photo of his uniform shows the aerial gunner insignia....machine gun with wings. Stationed on Kwajalein Atoll in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific. Trained in Florida by shooting shotguns at clay targets from the back of moving trucks. Was present for history's forth Atomic bomb blast which occurred at Bikini Atoll in "Operation Crossroads" after the war ended.
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Photos of number one son on his first tour of Afghanistan with some captured weapons....an AK and RPG. Currently on his second tour, hope to have him home in about a month.

God Bless those who served, past and present....

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Rembrant,
Your Dad was an Aviation Machinists Mate 3rd Class. When I was 17 I couldnt even spell Mech, then I were one. ;) LOL
 
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Two pictures of the same man, one shortly before his passing a few short years ago, and the other on his graduation of Radio Operators school in 1943, Classe 43-F, Goodman Field, San Angelo Texas. He operated a radio on a C-47 during the Normandy invasion, and had plenty of stories to tell. The revolver I bought for him 20 years ago, and it came back to me upon his passing.
Farewell, Pop, hand salute to you, sir.
 
buck1032 said:
Rembrant,
Your Dad was an Aviation Machinists Mate 3rd Class. When I was 17 I couldnt even spell Mech, then I were one. LOL

You're correct, in those days they did double duty, when not riding in the back they also worked on the plane.
 
We were looking through the papers of a Great Uncle who died a few years ago.... 164th Army WW2, Bronze Star. He didnt talk much about it, below is a summarized unit history from Wikipedia. He was in from Jan. 1941 - Late 1945. His experince there effected him greatly, his discharge paper list no wounds, but they didnt count PTSD back then.

Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Leyte, Cebu, Negros, and Bohol, (in the Philippines) They were slated to be part of the invasion of Japan when the war ended.

Thanks to all that have served, are serving, and the families at home!
 
Memorial Day in Andersonville Ga.

My daughter and grandaughter went to Andersonville to place American flags on the graves of the soldiers who died there. Even though they were "Yankees", they were Americans... God Bless..
 

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Yankees don't care about the war anymore, Im sure they will. Those folks in the ground are just other people, same as them, to a Yankee. This is a touch off topic no?
 
Every Civil War grave I have seen either CS or US has been given an flag that I have seen, even here in "Yankee" land.

I'm a little confused how you would know and speak so difinatively for "Yankees". I dont think we have forgotten, we just dont throw it around and try not to offend. To be honest your comment is a bit confusing, I'm hoping there is some sarcasim in there, johhny reb. ;)

Thanks to the OP, I have a Great Great Great Grandfather burried At the Danville Prison Union Cemetary.
 
My own GGGrandfather is buried at Hollywood Cemetery(Confederate Section) in Richmond. He was exchanged in 1864 and died 2 weeks later after contracting chronic diarrhea at Point Lookout POW Camp in Maryland. GOD bless all who died for a cause.
 
Casualties...

IMHO, ALL of the soldiers who died in the Civil War were American casualties.

I don't care to re-fight the conflict with anyone. That doesn't mean that I don't have an opinion about the causes, generals, outcome, tactics, mistakes, innovations, and deep feelings about the Civil War, I just don't want to scratch scabs with you or anyone else.

"The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract...."
 
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
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.
 
Veteran's Day and Memorial Day are not the same.

Memorial Day is to honor those who sacrificed all they had for their country and not those who were willing to but were lucky enough to survive.
 
GOD bless the Men & Women of the armed services

and may he give rest to the souls of those who have given thier lives for the cause of Freedom for us all.
 
Thanks to every American soldier and their families for their sacrifices.
The quote below is from a small support our troops program that I have run for the last 7 or so years.

I support the troops for selfish reasons.....those being Liberty and FREEDOM!
The USA was started through Great sacrifice with one idea. That men were made to be FREE. That no man has the right to take a life without due cause, or enslave a population by force. American soldiers have fought and died all over the planet.....yet never without due cause and never against the principles stated above. I am so very proud of this.......and of our soldiers.
Several in my family died for that idea, as did your brothers in arms.....SAD ...yes, but the tree of liberty has grown from their blood. I know you know this....but take every opportunity to repeat it. Never give up on freedom. Not while you are a soldier.....not when you are 99 years old.
Americans are presently free men and women.....it can be lost in the blink of an eye.
It is a true and precious gift from God, and has made the USA the greatest country the earth has ever known.Not an Empire of Tyrants.....just a whole lot of great people who appreciate humanity and understand that it's liberty that allows men to grow.
Certainly there will always be bad guys, and they do keep cops, soldiers and weapons makers in business.... But they have to be kept in check or we are all toast....so
That's it....I'll get down from my soap box
Thanks for participating in our program.
Your donations and photos will result in it's continuance and put a smile on the face of your fellow Americans.

Thanks in Advance
for YOUR help in this endeavor


Please help in the 2011 MAP Program.

Here is a short story to further illustrate.
I get email inquiries from all over the world about knives.
A few years ago, I received an inquiry from a guy in China.
He wanted to order several knives, and sent me photos of
his knife collection of US made knives.
For some reason this seemed strange to me, as they were all very high priced knives. Counterfeiting by the Chi Com is no joke in my business,
so I asked him a few questions. Mainly how he could afford such luxuries
as was not his country communist were each gives all and gets little.

He explained that he was the CEO of a large manufacturing company in China,
and sent some photos of his living quarters etc. All very nice.
The emails continued for several days, and in the conversation, he told me that yes he was a powerful guy, and yes he was allowed to acquire certain luxuries....but.....he was not allowed to leave the factory.

I told him that i didn't want my knives ending up in such a place, because a small part of my soul lives in each knife I make by hand.
Further I told him that I believe in freedom.....and to look out his window at
a bird. A creature free to fly were it wanted when ever it wanted.
I told him that human beings were made to be free....like that bird.
Upon my furtherance of this concept, the guy requested that I stop
writing about such things and get back to business. He furthered that
by telling me it would be very dangerous for him to continue
the emails and transaction if I did not get back on topic. That he could not only loose his position, but his life.
I then bid him good day.....and hoped that he would remember what I told him about the bird.

So YEAH.....God Bless every American who has died realizing that death is sweet compared to life with the boot of another man on his neck.
 
The fact that Memorial Day has been misremembered by almost everyone in this country is not completely our fault. Holidays have been twisted from their original purpose into marketing opportunities and the marketeers have twisted that even further to remove any solemnity so that the holiday is as "happy" as possible. Happy holidays sell more junk to people.

It's as effective a form of propaganda as any ever devised and it changes all our memory/view of those holidays.

I'll put a flag on my dad's grave for Veteran's Day in November since he survived WWII (lucky for me), but Monday I'll head out to the old Civil War cemetery for the men that fought and died here.
 
So YEAH.....God Bless every American who has died realizing that death is sweet compared to life with the boot of another man on his neck.
Including Civil War soldiers on both sides. Each who believed the were fighting for freedom.

I'll put a flag on my dad's grave for Veteran's Day in November since he survived WWII (lucky for me), but Monday I'll head out to the old Civil War cemetery for the men that fought and died here.
 
A prayer in memory of all who've died in service to our country and especially those in the F.A. units who departed Schofield Barracks, HI, in December 1967 and didn't make it back to the world.
 
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