If You're Reading This Blog Today...
... you can thank a veteran, either one who gave his life in service to his country, or one who gave his youth and health. America has never lacked for heroes, men and women who exemplify patriotism, honor, duty, and sacrifice. All of us, whether Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives, have members of our family who have devoted time in their lives to our country; we're all connected to them.
Our families share in this, and fortunately, our relatives all survived their service. My father, the Admiral Emeritus, served in the Army in Korea. The First Mate's father was a Marine Corps pilot who served in both World War II and Korea, flying Corsairs in the Pacific. My father's oldest brother went into the Navy and became part of the Seabees, and his other brothers served in the armed forces as well. My cousins have volunteered for duty; at least one of them reads my blog occasionally. The next generation now serve in the military.
On my mother's side, two of her brothers served in Vietnam, in the Marine Corps and the Army. Her third brother volunteered for the Air Force at the end of that war and spent 14 years serving his country.
I never served in the military, as CQ readers know. Our family has not lost a member in service; we have been fortunate, given how many have served. Many families today are remembering their fallen brothers, sisters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers ... sons and daughters. Our prayers are with those families today, those who have felt the pain of that last full measure of devotion given by those who didn't come home.
I'm flying my flag today to honor all of those. I know you are doing the same. Have a good Memorial Day with your family, and remember all of those who died to keep us free.
UPDATE: My cousin Mike reminds me of two family stories that I overlooked today. Our great-uncle John Edward Morrissey died in World War II as a member of the Merchant Marine. He died on his 21st birthday on 13 April 1942, 65 years ago last month. Mike has the details of the engagement in the comments.
Also, our grandfather Thomas Philip Morrissey was the second-youngest enlistee in the first World War. Big for his age and a rather daunting fellow, he bluffed his way into the Navy at age 13 to escape a hard home life. It took six months and a discerning commanding officer to reveal his real age and send him back home.
MIke, by the way, served in the Air Force and now flies for a major carrier today. Thanks, Mike, and I hope everyone on your end has a wonderful weekend.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on May 28, 2007 12:17 PM | Comments (21) | TrackBacks (2)
Comments (21)
Posted by Gene | May 28, 2007 1:00 PM
Nice post. Thanks.
Posted by TomB | May 28, 2007 1:17 PM
I just returned from France (short vacations), where I spent half a day in Verdun. I went to see what reminded from the forts defending the City, see bits and pieces and pictures and crosses... The battle happen more than 90 years ago, but trenches and craters are still everywhere, overgrown by trees, but still dangerous, due to unexploded ordnance and still full of human remains...
It is also a monument to incompetent political and military leadership, who ordered to disarm some fortifications and then to defend them without proper weapons, or simply abandoned some places, only to order to take them back, both at a huge price in human life…
Posted by RBMN | May 28, 2007 1:18 PM
Thanks also to all the military medics, corpsmen, nurses, doctors, and transport teams who work so hard to keep our young men and women off of the KIA list, while sometimes getting onto the KIA list themselves. Thank you.
Posted by Rose | May 28, 2007 1:34 PM
AMEN!
We were equally blessed, 3 uncles on one side, 3 or 4 on the other in WW2, one in Korea, a cousin in Vietnam, a nephew in Korea and in Iraq. All back safe, though they went through some bloody rough times.
I praise God we are a nation that knows the value of fighting for what is right - even if all our politicians don't.
May God have mercy upon us.
Posted by Rose | May 28, 2007 1:44 PM
Ain't hindsight just dandy peachy keen?
So the French put all their eggs in the Maginot line, and the Germans figured out how to use that against them.
Lot smarter than modern Americans putting all their eggs in Liberal Socialist Stalinism.
Fer sure.
Posted by Rose | May 28, 2007 1:50 PM
Ain't hindsight just dandy peachy keen?
So the French put all their eggs in the Maginot line, and the Germans figured out how to use that against them.
Lot smarter than modern Americans putting all their eggs in Liberal Socialist Stalinism.
Fer sure.
Posted by CayuteKitt | May 28, 2007 2:42 PM
Lost my first boyfriend to 'Nam. At the virtual wall awhile back I posted this to him:
"Thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice to defend and secure our freedom. God bless you, and God Bless America."
But not just those who sacrificed their lives to secure our freedom should be remembered on this day: Both my parents, who died natural deaths, served in World War II. They gave up part of their lives to also fight for our country, and all of you who did so in past wars, and are doing so now in current battles, should be remembered on this day as well.
To all of you I say: Thank you from my heart for sacrificing so much to keep us and our great country safe and secure, and a beacon of freedom for all of the world.
Posted by Michael Morrissey | May 28, 2007 3:33 PM
Ed
We did have a great uncle die in WWII. John Edward Morrissey, our grandfather's youngest brother, was a Merchant Marine. He served aboard a U.S. tanker Eugene V.R. Thayer. En route to Caripito, Venezuela from Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Eugene V.R. Thayer is pursued and shelled by Italian submarine Pietro Calvi at 02°20'S, 39°30'W; 11 of the tanker's crew are killed in the engagement that ends when Eugene V.R. Thayer is abandoned and later sinks off the coast of Brasil on 13 April 1942.
He died on his 21st birthday, 9 April 1942.
Posted by Michael Morrissey | May 28, 2007 3:36 PM
Ed
We did have a great uncle die in WWII. John Edward Morrissey, our grandfather's youngest brother, was a Merchant Marine. He served aboard a U.S. tanker Eugene V.R. Thayer. En route to Caripito, Venezuela from Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Eugene V.R. Thayer is pursued and shelled by Italian submarine Pietro Calvi at 02°20'S, 39°30'W; 11 of the tanker's crew are killed in the engagement that ends when Eugene V.R. Thayer is abandoned and later sinks off the coast of Brasil on 13 April 1942.
He died on his 21st birthday, 9 April 1942.
Posted by Michael Morrissey | May 28, 2007 3:40 PM
Ed
Did you know that our grandfather served in the Navy during WWI? He was the 2nd youngest to serve in that war. He was 13. His commanding officer thought he was too young and found out his real age. He was discharged after being in the Navy for six months.
Posted by Bruce Armstrong | May 28, 2007 3:40 PM
Thanks for your kind words towards our veterans and those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Thanks on behalf of my father Lloyd (USMC, 1940-1958 - Tulagi, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Korea).
Thanks on behalf of his two brothers (Buddy, US Army Air Corps, 1941-1945, England; Harry, U.S. Army, 1941-1945, stateside).
Finally, thanks on behalf of my great-uncle Major Stanley Holmes (US Army, Philippines, 1941-1944), who became a guerrilla when the islands fell, was captured in 1943, survived the Cabuanatuan camp and was killed when his POW transport ship was sunk en route to Japan).
Posted by Fight4TheRight | May 28, 2007 3:58 PM
Thanks Cap'n Ed for a wonderful post on this day of Memorium.
Posted by richard mcenroe | May 28, 2007 4:34 PM
Had an uncle who was a Marine at Pearl Harbor, another uncle in MI in Vietnam. My father did something in signals intelligence during the Cold War he was never allowed to talk about.
A Memorial Day Sentiment
Posted by unclesmrgol | May 28, 2007 5:17 PM
CayuteKitt,
I second your sentiments 100 percent.
We all know someone who "died in the war" -- a reminder that our freedom is sometimes gained and maintained at a terrible cost.
Remember Flanders Fields.
Posted by Bookworm | May 28, 2007 8:03 PM
I don't know if it's true for the American Merchant Marine, but I was told many years ago by a young man, a modern British Merchant Marine, that the British Merchant Marines statistically had the highest death toll of any British group caught in the fighting. That was news to me (I was very young then), as was the fact that, without their supply services, the war would most certainly have been lost.
Posted by Del Dolemonte | May 28, 2007 8:17 PM
Let's see...Grampy Smith hid his bad hand to enlist for WW1.
His son Dan shipped out with the Navy to McHale's Navy Land in World War 2. Dan later cut his teeth teaching at Punahou School in 1950s Hawaii (pre-statehood) which led to a long career in academia.
Mom's cousin Roger was a P-38 pilot stationed in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. 'Nuff said.
My Dad was accepted to the US Coast Guard Academy in late 1945, and graduated in 1950. This is supposedly the hardest Service Academy to get into (or is that an urban legend?).
After his commission as a Lieutenant in 1950, he served on a couple of buoy tenders, then got sent back to school at RPI.
After serving out of Boston as Exec Officer on the USCGC Casco in the 1959-63 time period (which included the Cuban Missile Crisis but also included the infamous North Atlantic Weather Station duty) he got sent to Hawaii as a civil engineer to watch over the LORAN towers that allowed navigation from the US to Asia in those days.
I'm happy to say that one of my cousins is married to a JAG in the Army, so the tradition continues.
Posted by Andy | May 28, 2007 9:14 PM
A bit of trivia, Ed and Michael:
April 13, 1942, was the birthday of Lance Sijan, an Air Force pilot shot down over Vietnam and eventually captured. He did not survive his captivity, although he gave his captors hell. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.
April 13th also happens to be my mother's birthday. Lot of good people born that day, what can I say?
Posted by Michael Morrissey | May 28, 2007 9:30 PM
http://www.usmm.org/casualty.html
Service Number serving War Dead Percent Ratio
Merchant Marine 243,000* 9,521** 3.90% 1 in 26
Marines 669,108 19,733 2.94% 1 in 34
Army 11,268,000 234,874 2.08% 1 in 48
Navy 4,183,466 36,958 0.88% 1 in 114
Coast Guard 242,093 574 0.24% 1 in 421
Total 16,576,667 295,790 1.78% 1 in 56
*Number varies by source and ranges from 215,000 to 285,000. War Shipping Administration Press Release 2514, January 1, 1946, lists 243,000
**Total killed at sea, POW killed, plus died from wounds ashore
Posted by Yoop | May 28, 2007 11:07 PM
On this particular day, of all days, this commentary may be one of the most offensive I have seen. I am at a loss for words.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_108083.asp
America Dishonors Her War Dead On Memorial Day - And Reply
posted May 28, 2007
(Here is but one excerpt of so many misguided statements and claims:)
"The last time an American soldier died or fought for our freedom was World War II. That is the plain fact and the plain truth. To say that any soldier since World War II fought or gave up his life in order that we might enjoy our freedom is a horrible mistake in reasoning."
Read the entire thing, and then weep for the fact that our military members give their lives so that people such as this author can have the *freedom* to print such things.
Posted by ERNurse | May 29, 2007 11:45 AM
I was the 4th generation of my family to serve in the Armed Forces. I served on Grenada and in Central America in the 1980s.
I would do it again.
My son is in college now and planning on being generation number 5, wearing the uniform of a United States Navy officer.
He wants to serve for the same reasons that his preceding generations wanted to serve: because our country is worth defending.
Posted by exdem13 | May 29, 2007 5:15 PM
My Great-Uncle Bill Montgomery was with the U.S. Marines in WW II, where he became a platoon sergeant. He was wounded in the landing on Iwo Jima, where he was one of the few survivors as they disembarked from their landing craft. He was on a transport waiting for Operation Olympic when the atomic bomb was dropped. I would like to know a lot more about him, as he died when I was 2 years old.
My grandmother's cousin enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a bomber pilot in China. They said he flew "The Hump" to attack Japanese targets in Burma. On one mission his airplane was hit & was last seen in flames over the jungle. He was never heard from again.
My brother-in-law's sister just finished her tour in the Marines as a Captain in communications. She served overseas in Kuwait & at home. She's currently bartending while waiting for a good position here. Based on her military career, that ought to be forthcoming!