Blog Entry # 33
On This Day of "Memorial Day" There Are Many Who Really Don't Know Why There Is A Holiday That Is To Honor & Remember the Fallen Who Have Paid The Ultimate Sacrifice For A Nation At Times Forget The Brave Warrior's From The Past or Present; Also Seem To Get Confused With The Other Holiday That Honors Veterans (Veterans Day) On Memorial Day.
There are many on this day of "Memorial Day" who have been yearning to take this three day weekend off from work for many to be with family & friends, and have been preparing for many to go out or stay home to celebrate the unofficial day of 'Summer' by BBQ, drinking, eating lots of BBQ or Picnic Food by the lake or the beach.
But, there are also those who are not exactly doing what the mainstream society is doing, because there are those who have lost 'Loved Ones' from the past or recently of losing a family member or friend or even a 'Brother or Sister In Arms' of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the uniform. There are those like 1LT. Laura M. Walker or SGT Edward R. Heselton (http://www.west-point.org/users/usma2003/60262/ http://arlingtoncemetery.net/erheselton.htm) who died back in 2005 in Afghanistan during deployed for O.E.F. (Operation Enduring Freedom), and both who are of similar ages from different places; different ranks; different genders; from different families; from different towns; have a difference past; but the one thing they have in common is that they both served honorably; they both sacrificed for their country; they both have family & friends that love them; they both knew the danger they were putting themselves in while serving in a combat-zone.
I still wear their names on my right forearm as a reminder that their service to our country, and what they sacrificed that many have no clue that they did but only those who have a clue and truly get it about how one day you are alive with hopes, dreams, asperations, goals, a bright future; but to be taken from them all because of being 'Warriors' who knew that they might not come back home to see their family & friends or to even keep pressing on with the good fight back home. Their names on my forearm is a small gesture of respect by honoring them compared to their huge gesture of putting themselves in a situation that many have not had the opportunity experience by putting others first above themselves.
They spilt their blood like so many other 'Warriors' before them, with them, and beyond them. I spilt my blood while alive to feel a glimpse of pain and to permanently be remembered that I am alive, and I am living the life I am living because they served, fought, and sacrificed by fighting the good fight of all who 'Paid The Ultimate Sacrifice' from the past & presently. Their family, friends or other Warriors they served with or knew will never see them again, but will only be reminded of what they lost by what the 'Warrior Hero's' left behind or of those who keep their legacy flaming on as bright as the stars up above in the heavens; just as I do every year or at times through out the year.
It is understandable that it is easy to forget, and there are those who want to forget what they lost. There will be many who think Memorial Day is like "Veterans Day" to honor all who have served in uniform, but that is nothing but really far from the truth. The sad truth that the closer we get past the past and closer to the future with the younger generations not being taught the true meaning of "Memorial Day" because the world is getting more disconnected with being so isolated with being so busy, because the world is getting so complicated and so divided with different political views, spiritual, or overall with having such a different outlook in life of having different dreams & goals that doesn't in many cases really line up with honoring those who are making it possible to have the Freedom, Rights & Liberties to choose to not honor those who wear the uniform because of the brave make it possible to have a land of the Free; even with the good & bad in a world that is spinning so out of control. While the world so far away from me that I am fighting for in the U.S. that is spinning out of control there not just where I served & fought abroad from the U.S.; I with many in uniform stand in the masses waiting to see 1LT Walker, SGT Heselton & other fallen 'Warriors' in the summer of 2005 in Afghanistan; and of those Warrior's in Iraq were as well that year doing the same thing of honoring the fallen Warriors; it was such a chilling, sad, frustrating, and somber experience as 'Warriors' on the tarmac while watching our Brothers & Sisters being rolled down the tarmac in military vehicles to be loaded up on military cargo aircrafts that are the most precious cargo that the military can ever put on board as cargo that has more value or need than anything it normally is used for while in service in the military: and that is the 'Warrior Hero of the Fallen' that are in boxes with the flag draped over their temporary coffin.
We who get it need to keep letting anyone or of those who are willing to listen to what "Memorial Day" is really about, because it isn't just about standing around the grill, drinking, laughing about stupid stuff, or playing games or hangout around at the campfire or whatever: but it is truly about remember those in uniform who have died on the battlefield or in the line of duty for a country that seems to forget them. There is an old saying about what really sums up the meaning of "Memorial Day", and it is this: 'All gave some; some gave all'. We are to go out and find out about of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice on this day of "Memorial Day"; to listen to the stories of the fallen' to appreciate them of who they were or became & how they impacted the lives that they encountered; to go out to the "Memorial Day Ceremonies".
So, regardless if you like the government or not or even trust the government or not or even support the military or not; because a life was lost; and that is the humane thing to do; just like honor all in some type of setting of those who have impacted the world in some shape or form; but on this day we just don't honor the military or the veterans who served in the military; because that is for another day: WE HONOR THE FALLEN FROM THE PAST OR PRESENT FROM NOT JUST THE U.S. BUT ALL OVER THE WORLD OF THOSE WHO WORE THE UNIFORM AT ONE POINT OF THEIR LIFE ALIVE & OF THOSE WHO WERE BURRIED IN THEIR UNIFORM DEAD BECAUSE THEY PAID THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE THAT CAN ONLY BE TRULY UNDERSTOOD BY LOSING SUCH A 'WARRIOR HEROS'; JUST LIKE I HAVE & SO MANY OTHERS.
AUTHOR'S SPECIAL NOTE:
I want to thank all who took the time of reading blog entry #33, and I hope it was thought provoking & helped put things into perspective with the true meaning of what "Memorial Day" should be looked at & how it should be honored because of the 'Warrior Hero's' who paid the ultimate sacrifice by giving all so we can gain because of their spilling of their blood for all.
Please, note that down below are some links related to this blog entry # 33, and I encourage you to go check them out. I hope you also checked the very amazing "Memorial Day Tribute Video" that is above.
I also encourage you to truly experience the true meaning of "Memorial Day" even if it may feel weird to do so, but if you are a Warrior who is in a crisis, please don't go alone or even a family or friend of a fallen warrior, because this is a time a fragile times of a day to honor those we have lost while many forget about the true meaning of "Memorial Day".
-Warrior Tim
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