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Who will you Remember ...

12K views 48 replies 35 participants last post by  pic 
#1 ·
... this Memorial Day?

If you're so inclined, please list them in this thread.

I will remember my brother, Captain Kirby Allen Hamilton. Died in active duty 1971.

I will remember Gary Swenchonis Jr., who died in the October 2000 bombing attack on the U.S.S. Cole.

I will remember Lance Corporal Matthew Holloway, who left behind a widow that he never got to live with. KIA in Iraq, December 2004


:smt1099 :smt1099 :smt1099

Prayers for their souls, and for the familes left behind.

WM
 
#29 ·
I'll remember Fred Pruden. He and I served together for almost two years on Okinawa. At the time, he was an E-7 and I was an E-5. We were both ASA. If you know anything about ASA, you know that there were no officers. Our officers were all Military Intelligence. Only the guys who did the real work were ASA.

In 1970, my four year enlistment was up. Fred wanted me to reenlist. It would have meant a $10,000 reenlistment bonus (no small amount of change in 1970) and another stripe. It was tempting.

Reenlisting would probably have included a tour in 'Nam. Like the current wars, we had no idea when they would end. I had done my time. I volunteered rather than be drafted. I had fulfilled my obligation to my country.

It's funny now when you look at the current crop of politicians how many have not served in the military.

I think it should be a prerequisite for any elected office. That would sure thin the herd of candidates.

But anyway, this Memorial Day, I will remember SFC Frederick William Pruden. You can find him on the Vietnam Memorial Wall....Panel 06W...Line 035
I'm surprised that I hadn't run across your post before now.

I, too (very proud to say), was in The Agency from 1966 through 1970. SFC Frederick William Patrick Pruden (crooked little pipe, and all) was my "Field First" while I was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, USASATR, from December 1966 through June 1967, while I was an 05K student. Fred and I got to be pretty good friends while I was at Devens. In fact, we once went woodchuck hunting near his home over in Stamford, New York. He had several guns at his mother's house, including a Colt Model 1917 .45 revolver, which he sold to me. First handgun I ever owned!

I'll always remember Fred as being a Hell of a good man, and one of the best soldiers I ever knew.
 
#35 ·
I remember Bruce McCrea,claimed to be the first American to land on Iwo Jima ,,, was in the second wave, because all of the first wave was wiped out.

I used to hear “Taps’ at summer camp every evening,,, someone would play it from a ways off in the woods, on a real trumpet. I will never forget that and it has been a few years.
 
#37 ·
I will remember Airman First Class Middleton who died in a forklift accident in Kunsan Korea in 1980. I was one of the first on the scene. The lift tipped on its' side and pinned him beneath the safety cage.
I can still see it in my minds eye.

GW
 
#39 ·
My dad for sure. He was wounded on D-Day + 2. Purple heart. 29th Infantry Division.
My father-in-law served in North Africa and Italy during WW2. We miss them very much.
Also two friends from high school who died in Vietnam both Army. One of those is listed as MIA.
 
#41 · (Edited)
My Dad, a career Marine Korea/Viet Nam.
All the Marines I shot pool with at the Naval Hospital that had come back from the war and hurt.
The wife of a Marine screaming when the men in Dress Blues told her that her husband was killed. in Viet Nam
My uncle that told me about his experience on the D-Day invasion. (he was missing a leg)
My Nephew who did two tours in Afghanistan, the other now stationed in Bahrain.
My Son, who came to me and told me he feels he owes this country something and now in the National Guard as a Medic.

I guess the list just goes on and on. Had tears in my eyes when visting the National Army Museum after my son graduated from Medic School.

And now, when I spoke with my son and told him, that he might be called on to help with the Corona Virus and I do not want him exposed to it, He said. But Dad, that is why I joined, "TO SERVE"

May God Bless all that Serve!!

 
#42 ·
Captain Warner Craig Jacobson, forever 26.

My first cousin, who was my only "big brother" growing up. KIA Feb. 1968, Republic of South Vietnam.

He was an acting Major in command of an artillery battery. His gun emplacements were spread far apart, requiring him to travel by small, scout helicopter between positions.
They recieved ground fire and he was hit as he was returning fire.

The army lists him as a casualty of a copter crash, but those with him and on the scene swear otherwise. I think the military at the time sometimes did this to reflect fewer battle casualtys for propaganda purposes.

The last time I saw him is when he visited me while I was in basic at Fort Ord, CA in 1967.

I miss him every damn day.

He and about 50,000 American boys died to prevent the communist take over of some 3rd world shit hole and today, the communists in the U.S. just expect us to hand them the keys
 
#43 ·
My Uncle "Skeeter" Pickering. A "Marine" and good person. A 3 Star recipient Veteran from the Korean War. He raised me in the 1960's when I needed him the most. A great man that deserved so much more for what he went through serving his country. He stayed behind so others could get away and suffered for it long after the conflict ended. He survived to raise a family and help others at home with little or no help from the Veterans Administration. GOD Bless all our veterans and all that serve!!!
 
#49 ·
Father who served in the Korean War as a marine, never was the same, today they may call it a form of PTSD. Didn't have treatments back then.

My father in law whose family escaped from GERMANY at the beginning of the German persecutions.
He joined at 18 years old, JOINED THE US ARMY.
Fought under GEORGE PATTON in the BATTLE OF THE BULGE.
Decorated more then once, came home ALIVE.
Since deceased. Great man.
🎖🏅🥉
 
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