Memorial Day – 2015: A Debt We Can Never Repay … Remembering, Thanking & Honoring Our Military Heroes For Their Service & Sacrifice

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

On this Memorial Day 2015, Scared Monkeys sends a special thank you to all of the military men, woman and their families who have sacrificed their lives to that We, the United States of America, remain the home of the free because of the brave. We thank from the bottom of our hearts those who we can no longer thank in person for their sacrifice 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)

America has lost so many lives to protect the freedoms and liberties that we hold to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. We have lost so many brave souls to not only protect our Freedoms, but the freedoms of others from tyranny.  On this day we remember that Freedom is never Free and all those that gave all in their service and sacrifice to us.

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.”

Remarks at Memorial Day Ceremonies Honoring an Unknown Serviceman of the Vietnam Conflict – 5/28/84

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.

As always and on a personal note I say thank you and you are missed to 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.  So often he did not want to talk of what went on during his military server and his heroic efforts during WWII; however, true heroes are also humble. It was not until much later when I was in college and became a history major with a specialty in US military warfare and tactics did my uncle open up and provide me with the truth of what he experienced during his military days, some of that time spent in the Ardennes , better know as the Battle of the Bulge.

Thank you from your nephew and namesake, Red

A thank you to all that made the greatest sacrifice for us. May we honor your sacrifices and make you proud.