Memorial Day 2005

Old Glory

I am a proud veteran of the United States Air Force. Memorial Day has always held special significance to me from the first time i can remember going with my dad to McClellan AFB where he worked and especially after i joined up in December 1979. My father was a civilian but he spent quite a bit of time in Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand during the Vietnam war as part of the rapid aircraft maintenance team. I have always been a proud supporter of the men and women of the military since i was very young .... and it continues today as today's armed forces men and women, our true heroes along with fire and public safety and law enforcement men and women, are the best of the best of the best America has to offer. It is for these fallen heroes, men and women such as Iven Kinchloe, Glen Edwards, Chesty Puller, the crews of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, the astronauts of Apollo I, for men like Walter Reed, and the incredible "bastards of Bastogne", the men of D-Day and those of Chosin Resovior, Ke Sanh and the A Shau valley, it is for the memory of the marines of Lebanon 1983, the brave men of the Iranian Hostage rescue attempt, of those from Son Tay, Grenada, and the wilds of the Argonne Forest. It is for every fallen winner of the bronze star, the silver star, the purple heart and the Medal of Honor .....
This day is for remembering all of our heroes .... those that everyone knows by name .. men like Lance P Sijan, Gus Grissom, Leonard Wood, Pat Tillman ... men who lived and died fighting for what they believed was the right and what they believed was best for America ...
and for me it is also a day for remembering those that no one knows about ... men like Sergeant Stephen "Fess" Parker, Lt Ron Periard, Capt. Mark S. Makowski ... men i served with and knew who also gave to their country the fullest measure of devotion ... their lives.
and for me it is also about those men and women who served bravely and honorably who still are among the living .... for my best good friend Mike Meyers, and Rudy Zayas, for my MTI Ron Ash; for Ben Bailey and Sue Colon and General John Farrington, Colonel Marlan Kitchen, TSgt Jim McClain and Jimmy Deaux ... for Betty Jean Poos and Diana Boudreau, and Elizabeth J. McNeil-Moore and Charles Moore, for everyone of my former compatriots in arms .... this is your day the day when i as a grateful citizen pay my respects to each and every one of you from the Revolutionary War right down through today's heroes in Iraq, Afghanistan, those serving on ships at sea, at lonely listening posts in the hinterlands or the wilds of downtown Los Angeles. To each man and woman who has ever served or are still serving ... from this proud veteran and from my heart i say THANK YOU .... God Bless You and Your Families .... and may God continue to bless this great land of America.

Its Memorial Day .... America be thankful and proud of your sons and daughters ... and may we never forget the TRUE MEANING OF THIS DAY.