Bear
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No nurses till Tuesday---Think I'll spend some time at the Veteran's Cemetary in Augusta remembering "Old Friends"
Memorial Day
- Thread starter Bear
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WI has shut down ceremonies at veterans cemeteries statewide. But I’ll ride down to Spooner and visit fallen veterans there anyway. I’m sure I won’t be the only one.
VFW is presenting the Colors this AM at church. I appreciate that. Seems that after VietNam I worked at putting all that out of my mind and now it is coming back.
VFW is presenting the Colors this AM at church. I appreciate that. Seems that after VietNam I worked at putting all that out of my mind and now it is coming back.
OP
OP
Bear
2
Jim, Here in Maine, the Episcopal Church has been closed since January 2020. I have not been to church since. I think I'll be looking for a different church. Going to church via Zoom does not cut it.
I agree that going to church on Zoom doesn't cut it. We're opening up again, but our current pastor doesn't cut it either. He's Tongan, and I'm sure that this is mostly cultural, but he shouts at us, and there's no content in his sermons. But he's leaving after next Sunday. I'll be preaching the 13th and, hopefully, his replacement will be here in July. But Sione has practically destroyed the church and finding a replacement is going to be tough. Joanne and I are among the younger members, we've got a huge old building (with lots of asbestos), a downtown location and lots of competition. Back in the early '90s our church had over 1,000 members and attendance of over 500. I don't know how many members we've got now, but attendance is under 100.
Jim, I'm sorry your Vietnam memories are coming back -- I don't see how they could ever really go away. I never served, I was just about 2-3 years ahead of the draft all the way through college and seminary. I tried to become an AF chaplain, but they had a backlog. My brother did two tours in Vietnam and I have always been proud of him and all the vets who have been members of my churches. The Hospice where I work is diligent about having pinning services for all the vets we serve. Thanks to you and all who have defended our nation and its freedom.
Jim, I'm sorry your Vietnam memories are coming back -- I don't see how they could ever really go away. I never served, I was just about 2-3 years ahead of the draft all the way through college and seminary. I tried to become an AF chaplain, but they had a backlog. My brother did two tours in Vietnam and I have always been proud of him and all the vets who have been members of my churches. The Hospice where I work is diligent about having pinning services for all the vets we serve. Thanks to you and all who have defended our nation and its freedom.
I guess you're right Phil. When we were returning from Viet Nam we had to attend classes on how to behave in the presence of anti war protesters. We were told to ignore them and to never engage with them under threats of military discipline. PTSD had not yet been invented so we were told to "suck it up" and get on with life. I must have suppressed my emotions for 50 years but I now know they still exist because Memorial Day means much more to me now than ever before. It was probably good that we were told to lay off the protesters because otherwise there would have been more bloodshed on this side of the world too. I returned to a country that was far different than the one I left. And I now understand why my uncles never talked about WWII. The slow-running rivers are deep.
The protesters were very hard to deal with. It seemed that the entire country had turned against the military. I'm glad that the country has regained their senses and once again honor those who served. I fear though that once again things may be turning around back to the way it was. Many of our young people have very little sense.
JMHO,
Mike
JMHO,
Mike
OP
OP
Bear
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I know where you are coming from, Jim. Sometimes--actually a lot of the time--I'll be sitting in my recliner listening to the stereo when a song comes on that was popular when I was in country--CCR doing "Proud Mary", and I'm sitting there re-experiencing missions in the form of "eye lid movies". The only things I don't get (Thank God) are the sounds and smells. It's almost a dissociative state. That's probably why I don't listen to tunes when I ride the MC. In my car, I tune in Sattelite Radio and listen to Willie's Roadhouse. That is usually a safe move. Last summer we had the "Moving Wall" in Bath, ME. I rode down to check it out and lost it. Yes, it is like it all happened yesterday. At our rifle club range, I'm the medic standing by with my aid bag. Some things never change.
OP
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Bear
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Mike, You are a pillar of common sense. Thanks for being there.
Most college towns have been anti-military to a certain extent so that's nothing new.
I was in the USMCR, 1964-70, and although we were never mobilized for 'Nam, the prospect was always there and we even had one weekend where we did nothing but take a short hop on a C130 Hercules, wearing all our gear + had a 105 howitzer & staff car aboard. That was my very first airplane ride and the pilot seemed to do his best to hit all the pockets of turbulence.
I was in the USMCR, 1964-70, and although we were never mobilized for 'Nam, the prospect was always there and we even had one weekend where we did nothing but take a short hop on a C130 Hercules, wearing all our gear + had a 105 howitzer & staff car aboard. That was my very first airplane ride and the pilot seemed to do his best to hit all the pockets of turbulence.
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Too many colleges today are places where the kids go to "lose their way". Parents would be wise to spend a lot of time in helping their kids to select the proper school. There are still a few good ones out there.... Hillsdale College, Grove City College, School of the Ozarks but they are few and far between.
Mike
Mike
Colleges and Universities are Big Business and they sometimes (often?) seem to sell popular majors without real job opportunities; conversely, students would do better if they checked job possibilities before selecting a major. There is plenty of blame on both sides. 
Memorial Day 150 mile ride to a beautiful veterans cemetery this AM. It was good to reflect on the ones who didn't survive the wars or have since died and all their loved ones. I felt so fortunate to be where I am today and it was indeed a humbling experience. 
My brother died in and is buried in Arlington. His wife and kids were there yesterday.
I miss him. He died a week after his 70th birthday.
I miss him. He died a week after his 70th birthday.
Hi Phil. Sorry for your loss. Was Michael also a "man of the cloth"? or does the cross signify his Christianity?
The cross on a military headstone signifies Christian. If you look to the headstone on the right you will see the Star of David signifying Jewish. Other faiths have their own symbols but what they are escapes me. I used to know.
Mike
Mike
Like Mike Simmons said, the cross is the symbol of his faith. Does anyone know what the letters on his headstone mean? LM & 0LC and then BSM & 0LC?
Mike was an MP. He had managed to talk Dad into letting him enlist in '67 after he'd failed out of three colleges in 5 semesters. He finished basic and offered a chance to go to OCS. He was assigned to MPs after he was commissioned. His next to last assignment was Provost Marshall US Army Europe. He stayed in another year and a half as Provost Marshall from the Brooks Army Hospital complex. When he retired he worked for the Arizona Department of Corrections and was in charge of their Internal Affairs Department.
On 9/13/01, an MP friend called him and told him that the Department of Homeland Security was looking for experienced security people for the Traffic Safety Administration and suggested that Mike send a letter to them and tell them what he'd have to have to come to work for them. He mailed it on a Tuesday, got a call on Thursday, asking him to be in DC on Friday and by the end of the day, he was the Traffic Safety Administrator for the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport in SC. He retired from that job in '11. His goal after retirement was to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. He started at the south end and was west of Lake Tahoe on July1. His wife flew out to join him while he took a week off to celebrate their anniversary. When they checked into a hotel, he was taking a shower and she told him to take a close look at himself. He'd weighed 165 when he started in early March and was down to 120 by July. He decided to quit and come back the next year to finish. But by the time he'd been on the trail 6 days, he was somewhere north of there and got to a stop about 60 miles NE of Grass Valley, CA. The next day, he called an MP buddy who lived in Grass Valley. When the guy answered the phone, before Mike could say anything, he said, "Are you ready for me to come pick you up?" He was and was on a plane from Reno to Greenville/Spartanburg by 2PM that afternoon.
He kept hiking and climbing mountains but never went above about 6500'. He and a friend were climbing the highest mountain in NC on 12/8, a week after Mike's birthday, and the guy said Mike made a noise and said he had a pain in his armpit. But, naturally, he thought he'd be alright if they rested a few minutes. They walked on about 200 yards to the summit. The guy asked Mike how he was and he said that he still had a bit of an ache. The guy told him not to move; he hustled to a ranger station and they got the Search and Rescue guys there. About two hours later they got to Mike and he was gone. Both of my brothers hiked long distances and climbed mountains and were thin. Mike had gotten back up to about 135 after the having been down to 120. I was probably 280 when he died. Our younger brother Larry had died at 53. He'd had a heart attack when he was 40, but recovered enough to hike in the Wasatch Range east of Salt Lake. I've never had any heart issues. There ain't no justice!!
Phil,
Those are his major awards he earned while serving. LM = Legion Of Merit BSM = Bronze Star Medal OLC = Oak Leaf Cluster An OLC is given for a second, or third, fourth, etc award of a medal. We do OLC's so we don't look like the Russians or Chinese with their rows and rows of medals.
Here is a link to a VA decoder for anyone else wondering what all those acronyms mean.
Here is a link to most of the Headstone and Marker Inscriptions Abbreviations you may encounter for all branches of service.
The older style bronze headstones generally do not show awards just any combat duty and final rank. In the case of my Father they didn't include he was in the Navy in WWII, there wasn't a USAF in WWII
, nor his time in the US Army Air Corp prior to the formation of the USAF in 1947. But they did get his final rank of Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt) right.
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When I was in Air Force ROTC, they gave us a ride in an old coptor...that was the last time I ever rode in a coptor!
When my cruise ship docked in Sitka, I walked to the military cemetery to pay my respects and had a wonderful talk with the head honcho.....it takes alot of work to keep up these places and its worth every cent.....hard not to choke up.....every day is Memorial day and every day I miss my Uncle Howard Dallman....nicest guy I ever knew....
