Memorial Day

Here we are at a three day weekend... the beginning of summer....and... Memorial Day.
I try to keep in mind that our soldiers get no three day week end...or even one day off whilst we sit around with our families, burgers grilling and laughing at the shenanigans of the kids and dogs running around having fun.

We do all those things at the expense of those who today, are hot, sweating, walking around uncomfortable in full gear, having to be ever aware that every step taken could be a last one. Knowing that tonight when they go to sleep, they will be missing their family so much that the heart hurts clear to the soul. Knowing that they may not awake to the birds singing and green grasses and meadows of home, but explosions, loud voices barking out commands and hot, stick to ya' sand clouds that sting the skin and blind the eyes...they might not wake up at all.

When we "celebrate" this day with friends and family, mow our yards, trim the trees, plant flowers, or do one of the hundreds of other mundane day to day, and the not so mundane truly enjoyable things we all enjoy doing so much, I hope that at some point during our regular days activities, we stop to remember those who actually did not wake up. Those who lay in fields marked with stark white, simple crosses and tombstones by the thousands who wanted nothing more than a "regular day" to enjoy doing what we normally do.

War is hell. War in any form...is purely hell on earth. And there were those who willingly stepped into the fire, for everyone.

I wish I'd had the opportunity to grow up with my Uncle Jim. James Curtis Pharaoh. A WWII Veteran who towered over me. A big gentle giant who was blown out of his foxhole and hospitalized for six months solid before he could even think straight!
He saw atrocities, did what he was told, was injured and yet made it home to still care for my grandma all of the rest of her life. He stepped up!
If I'd been close by, I would envision that I'd have spent many hours over at his house, cleaning, cooking for him (and he would have cooked for me and my family for sure!)... I think I'd have had him teach me how to do proper gardening and canning (something I never attempted for fear of food poisoning my entire family :-\ )...
and, just being able to listen to the wisdom this wonderful man could have shared.

He was one of them. The noble and good soldier who did not allow the circumstances of the hell he lived overtake him and who he was. He was a good man going in...he was a good man coming out.

I want to say thank you to my Uncle Jim, no longer with us...and all the Uncle Jim's across the globe who made the sacrifices when it was important enough to do so.

Our UK relatives who stood side by side along with their American relatives and comrades, they all felt the scorching heat of battle, for us to come to this day. A three day week end where freedom rings. In the form of children free to laugh and play, men who just want to mow their own lawns, ladies who want to just pick up the phone to call their friends and chat...simple life.

The simple life that we all can lead each and every day because of men and women who have been willing to face the flames of tyranny, oppression, fascism, terrorism, and ideologies which would in a split minute, take it all away if allowed the means to do so. But it just won't happen while brave men and women exist in our armed forces!

Thank you to ...EVERY soldier, that for the sake of someone else, is not with us today. Thank you... to the soldiers everywhere both here and abroad, who still think it is far more noble to be the protector/s of all, than have an extra day off.

For those past and present, we honor and sincerely "Thank You" today.