28 thoughts on “Their action and sacrifice will always be remembered.”

  2. Beautiful, Wil. I’m definitely a pacifist, but I do respect and am thankful for those who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms.
    -Alicia (@AliciaWag)

  9. Wil, Thanks for posting this and for remembering that today is about so much more than barbecue and beer. Everyone please remember to give a moment of silence at 3pm.

  10. This says it better than anything I could say. This is the reason for Memorial Day, not sales, bbq, and swimming (All nice things but not what today was meant for). Thanks for this post.
    Cheers.

  11. Not only a thank you to those who paid the highest price, but a thank you to those wounded in service, whether in combat or not. These wounded vets and their families live with their scars the rest of their lives. Sometimes the hardest battle is fought after their time in service is done.

  12. Okay, I’m sorry if I offend anyone with this comment but all of you who are moved enough by this photo to comment here really should also click through and post a comment for its photographer as well. As long as I’m on my soapbox, not only do I remember and thank all of those who have fought and died for this country but also thank the people who fought for this country and survived — they took on a lifetime of bad memories and if-onlys for us as well. Thanks for posting the link, Wil.

  14. Here here! Today is a day to celebrate all soldiers and Veterans. Thanks for not turning this into a political statement like so many other people do, because today is about reverence, both for those who lost their lives in a war and the ones who survived them and face personal demons every day of their lives. Eating hamburgers, hot dogs and getting shitfaced is not what Memorial Day is about. It’s about the people who fought for this country, whether they had a choice in the matter or not. Thank you Wil. Just…thank you.
    Happy Memorial Day, all.

  15. A very good tribute. My dad served in the Air Force and a lot of my mom’s cousins and uncles were in the service for various wars. I’ve never served, but have always had respect for those that did. Thanks for honoring them. Happy Memorial Day.

  16. Speaking as an Army brat (my father fought in WWII through Vietnam), thank you, Wil, for honoring those who put their lives on the line for our country. Our military defends our freedom every single day, resulting in places such as your Web site which allows our collective voices to be heard. Right-on, right-on!
    ~iamdawt

  17. Through smoke and fire,
    And shot and Shell,
    And to the very walls of hell,
    We shall stand and we shall stay,
    Over the hills and far away.
    (Over the hills and far away by Jon Tams)

  18. The sacrifice of fallen soldiers is a reminder to us all of the price of freedom…and the cost of war…We should remember with honor those who have died in service to our country…We could never repay to them or to their families what they have given for us.

  19. Nameless and unknown to us but not forgotten.
    Nameless and know to thier comrades in arm’s.
    Named and known by the creator,who now reside with him in eternity blessed amoung men for such sacrifices in the cause of freedom!

  20. I’ve been feeling very nostalgic and sentimental recently. A little under a year ago I came back from OIF 07-08, and I’ve felt massive guilt that I had such an easy time of it. As I’ve said to friends and family, the most difficult thing I had to deal with was boredom. I sat at a computer and tried not to fall asleep at the office.
    The guilt comes and goes, but over the past four days I’ve really begun to realize how lucky I was and am. I was never in any danger, and I thought it was a hassle to have to carry my M16 on the rare occasions that I went off-post (never had to carry it on-post). I got to wear civilian clothes on-post, just 14 miles from the Iraq/Kuwait border. I worked, usually, less than 10 hours a day, and had at least one day a week off. The guilt comes from helping the soldiers coming in and out of Iraq, via Kuwait. They had friends die, were in mortal danger on a daily basis, and I complained when I had to pull a very rare 24 hour CQ duty. Even in my own unit there was a complete dichotomy. Some soldiers in my unit were like me, desk jockeys; others were in and out of Iraq with convoys and were in actual danger.
    I’m unable talk about this without sounding like I don’t know what I’m talking about. Because I do feel very conflicted about my deployment. However. I did join the National Guard without realizing that we could be deployed overseas. But I did join post 9-11, so I must have felt the need to do something for my country. I just didn’t actually expect it to happen, really. (the deployment) And especially in a war that was all because the president wanted to finish what daddy started, plus his friends wanted the oil. WMD’s my ass.
    Ok, enough of that now, before I get myself all riled up.
    Wil, thank you for reminding both myself and the rest of your readership what this day is about.

  22. My late father was a Vietnam veteran, and not a day goes by that I’m not amazed at what he and the soldiers he served with had to endure, overseas AND at home. It gives me personally a better appreciation as a civillian of just how hard it is for our soldiers overseas now, and I’m even more amazed at what they are able to deal with currently.
    Happy Memorial Day, Wil. 🙂

  23. Wil, as an Army wife I have to tell you that this pic was wonderful and states exactly what today is all about. Thank you.

  25. “Here’s health to you and to our Corps
    Which we are proud to serve;
    In many a strife we’ve fought for life
    And never lost our nerve;
    If the Army and the Navy
    Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;
    They will find the streets are guarded
    By United States Marines.”
    To all that have served…. Semper Fi.

  26. This absolutely breaks my heart. My grandfather and my mothers boyfriend were both in the Army. I feel for every one who’s loved one or friend is associated with anything that has to do with the Army, Air Force etc. THEY WILL LIVE ON IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER AND WE ARE FOREVER IN DEBT TO THEM.

  27. Thanks, Wil. I’ll be looking forward to the new book. 🙂
    And DS Russell, nice! Not many people know there are multiple verses to that song. 🙂

  28. Coming to this late:
    Wil, THANK YOU.
    Eri,
    I’ve felt massive guilt that I had such an easy time of it.
    I know what you mean – I was a desk jockey during OIF 2, in Tikrit.
    Eventually, it goes away. Eventually, you realize you did a job that someone at home didn’t want to do … and, by being a member of an all volunteer force, we’ve kept them from having to reinstate the draft – forcing someone to do that desk jockey job.
    I’ve been in 15 years now – when I joined up, we didn’t think we’d have another war.
    But we did. And Memorial Day used to be known as Decoration Day – a day to clean up and put flowers on the graves of those who died fighting for both sides in the Civil War.
    It is not a day for the currently serving soldiers, it is not a day for those who already served and got out: we have Armed Forces Day and Veterans Day for those.
    This day is for those who gave the last full measure of devotion.

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