Memorial Day – 2016: Remembering, Thanking & Honoring Our Military Heroes For Their Service & Sacrifice

REMEMBERING AND HONORING OUR MILITARY HEROES WHO GAVE ALL … BECAUSE FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE AND HONOR IS FOREVER.

On this Memorial Day 2016, Scared Monkeys sends a special thank you to all of the military men, woman and their families who made the ultimate sacrificed so that We, the United States of America, could remain the home of the free because of the brave. We thank those who gave their lives in the name of liberty and freedom from the bottom of our hearts. We can no longer than them in person, but we can honor their sacrifices to this great Country. Thank you and God Bless you, we shall never forget you your service and sacrifice. Please take time today to remember what this day is truly about and the men and women that we have lost.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 – King James Version)

Every year I take a moment and a personal note to honor and say thank you to a man who I miss so much, my uncle Red, who is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. My uncle served in Patton’s 3rd Army where he received the following medals. a silver star. bronze star and multiple purple hearts. He was one of the true humble heroes of WWII and our Greatest generation. God Bless you all.

I can remember like it was yesterday, but in fact it was more than 25 years ago, when I stood in Arlington National Cemetery for the funeral of my Uncle and namesake. I can remember the sound of Taps and the 21 gun salute as tears flowed down my face as I laid to rest my hero. A man that gave so much for his country and for me. A man who was the toughest and most honorable, proud and yet humble man I have ever known. By all accounts he should have died in the Ardennes forest during WWII, but God had other plans. However, in many respects he did lose all as he came home forever changed. My uncle volunteered for WWII at age 18, although, when I review the records he was actually 17. He, like 5 of his brothers, took part in WWII. However, my Uncle Red saw the most action in Patton’s 3rd Army. Much of what he witnessed, he took to his grave as he lost so many Brothers in Arms. When he came home some 4 years later after having defeated the Nazis, his own mom, my grandmother, did not recognize him.

The words of President Ronald Reagan, Arlington National Cemetery, May 31, 1982:

“The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we — in a less final, less heroic way — be willing to give of ourselves.” [...] 

“As we honor their memory today, let us pledge that their lives, their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered for as long as God gives life to this nation. And let us also pledge to do our utmost to carry out what must have been their wish: that no other generation of young men will every have to share their experiences and repeat their sacrifice.”

Thank you to the men and woman who have died to make us free. We can thank you best by honoring your sacrifices to defeat tyranny, socialism, Communism and Nazism by continuing to do so the same today.

One Response to “Memorial Day – 2016: Remembering, Thanking & Honoring Our Military Heroes For Their Service & Sacrifice”

1. A Texas Grandfather on May 30th, 2016 1:17 pm

   A beautiful tribute to your uncle Red. He like many fudged their birth date in order to join the military to defend their nation and all of its people from an enemy that wanted to destroy the world.

   One of my first cousins did the same and served as a ground support troop for the Flying Tigers in China.

   Following the war, I worked with a man who served in Patton’s army. He too was wounded multiple times, but continued to fight for his country.

   This memorial day is the first in many years where I did not participate in a service honoring the troops by playing in a band or directing it and closing the service by playing taps.

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