Memorial Day Thread 2010

[LA Ute]

If you have 5 minutes to watch it, here's a video appropriate to this weekend. (It's not a YouTube so I don't know how to embed it.)

[John McClain]

Geez. way to make a grown man cry! God Bless America and its soldiers.

[FN Phat]

One of my favorite holidays. Thank you to those that gave life and limb for our freedoms.

[Borg]

Beautiful

[LA Ute]

Another One

One more for Memorial Day. This is the Medal of Honor citation for Staff Sergeant Jared C. Monti (photo at left), who served in Afghanistan:

Staff Sergeant Jared C. Monti distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a team leader with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3d Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, on June 21, 2006. While Staff Sergeant Monti was leading a mission aimed at gathering intelligence and directing fire against the enemy, his 16-man patrol was attacked by as many as 50 enemy fighters. On the verge of being overrun, Staff Sergeant Monti quickly directed his men to set up a defensive position behind a rock formation. He then called for indirect fire support, accurately targeting the rounds upon the enemy who had closed to within 50 meters of his position. While still directing fire, Staff Sergeant Monti personally engaged the enemy with his rifle and a grenade, successfully disrupting an attempt to flank his patrol. Staff Sergeant Monti then realized that one of his Soldiers was lying wounded in the open ground between the advancing enemy and the patrol's position. With complete disregard for his own safety, Staff Sergeant Monti twice attempted to move from behind the cover of the rocks into the face of relentless enemy fire to rescue his fallen comrade. Determined not to leave his Soldier, Staff Sergeant Monti made a third attempt to cross open terrain through intense enemy fire. On this final attempt, he was mortally wounded, sacrificing his own life in an effort to save his fellow Soldier. Staff Sergeant Monti's selfless acts of heroism inspired his patrol to fight off the larger enemy force. Staff Sergeant Monti's immeasurable courage and uncommon valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, and the United States Army.

It's always fascinating and humbling for me to browse the Medal of Honor site. Take a look. Memorial Day is the perfect time to visit there.

[il Padrino Ute]

One more for Memorial Day. This is the Medal of Honor citation for Staff Sergeant Jared C. Monti (photo at left), who served in Afghanistan:



It's always fascinating and humbling for me to browse the Medal of Honor site. Take a look. Memorial Day is the perfect time to visit there.

Medal of Honor recipients are true heroes. Thanks for posting this link, LA.

[New Mexican Disaster]

Thanks for that. A real tearjerker.

[happyone]

This a little late, but this Memorial Day I would like to thank all those who have worn the uniform, any that are currently wearing the uniform and a premature thanks to those who will wear the uniform of the United States.

[cowboy]

Memorial Day ceremonies always kind of choke me up. For personal reasons I am especially reflective of the soldiers who fought in Vietnam. Not only was it the only war we've lost to date, but it was a war that took a tremendous toll in life and lives for a lost cause. I was only a toddler when it ended, and it completely altered the course of my life.

So when Memorial Day comes and I start thinking about the vets, I often reflect on the movie We Were Soldiers. I was so affected by the movie that I researched the battle in the Ia Drang valley, and in doing so I came across the email address of Jack Geoghegan's wife, Barbara. You may remember her character in the movie who makes the rounds with Colonel Moore's wife delivering the KIA telegrams to soldiers' wives until one morning the telegram came for her. Luitenant Geoghegan had been killed trying to help one of his wounded soldiers.

So I sent Mrs. Geoghegan Johns a email expressing appreciation for those who died over there. To my surprise, she responded. She told me that Luitenant Geoghegan's mother was firmly convince that great spiritual things would come through him, and that the movie was helping that come to pass. She also said that Colonel Moore contacts her every November, the month her husband was killed. I didn't save the email, and I wish I had, but it was similar to the things she has written on a myspace page dedicated to her first husband.

[Surfah]

Memorial Day ceremonies always kind of choke me up. For personal reasons I am especially reflective of the soldiers who fought in Vietnam. Not only was it the only war we've lost to date, but it was a war that took a tremendous toll in life and lives for a lost cause. I was only a toddler when it ended, and it completely altered the course of my life.

So when Memorial Day comes and I start thinking about the vets, I often reflect on the movie We Were Soldiers. I was so affected by the movie that I researched the battle in the Ia Drang valley, and in doing so I came across the email address of Jack Geoghegan's wife, Barbara. You may remember her character in the movie who makes the rounds with Colonel Moore's wife delivering the KIA telegrams to soldiers' wives until one morning the telegram came for her. Luitenant Geoghegan had been killed trying to help one of his wounded soldiers.

So I sent Mrs. Geoghegan Johns a email expressing appreciation for those who died over there. To my surprise, she responded. She told me that Luitenant Geoghegan's mother was firmly convince that great spiritual things would come through him, and that the movie was helping that come to pass. She also said that Colonel Moore contacts her every November, the month her husband was killed. I didn't save the email, and I wish I had, but it was similar to the things she has written on a myspace page dedicated to her first husband.

Holy crap. I just read her account on the MySpace page. Now I am blinking away tears. Jack was a saint. It just seems unfair that we lose people like him. Perhaps though, he was just too good for this world we live in. Unbelievable story.

[happyone]

Memorial Day ceremonies always kind of choke me up. For personal reasons I am especially reflective of the soldiers who fought in Vietnam...

I also am esp reflective of Viet Nam. I was 9 when my father went and one of my enduring memories of that year is reaction my mother had to the letter he sent telling her that one of the kids that we had "adopted" had been killed. She was standing at the kitchen sink crying and staring out the window at the mountains.

This the link to his entry on the virtual wall, if any are interested

http://www.virtualwall.org/db/BraggFG01a.htm

My father was one of those who were on the radio with him when they lost contact. He feels that he would have recieved the MOH if there had been another witness. Appearently you need two witnesses and there was only one survivor.

Even though my family continued to "adopt" young service men after that, I don't think any became quite as close to the family