MEMORIAL DAY

Just a space to share your family and friends. May we never forget. Yet someday forgive.


My Great-Great grandfather. WW1 German infantry.
Great Uncle. WWII Navy submarine.
Grandfather WWII infantry.
Uncle. Korea infantry.
Cousin. Somalia. Marine.
And too many friends of friends.
Rest in peace.

I leave the thread open.

My dad was in the Pacific theater in WW II. Army but he was always on a boat island hopping. He told me many stories, but only after he was drinking. He didn't like to talk about it much.

My maternal grandfather was in WW I in Europe. He didn't mind talking about it if you brought it up and asked him questions.

I used to tape them talking about the wars, the reel to reel deck hidden behind the bar in the basement. They would drink shots and beers and argue over which war was worse. Lol.

I still listen to those tapes a couple times a year just to hear their voices again. My dad died in 2005, Gramps in 1983.

My dad's brother trained submarine crews stateside during WW II. He was already married and avoided combat, possibly because of being older and married.

My mother's brother was 10 years younger and served in Korea right out of college. After the war he finished his tour in Nevada watching them test nukes and he died of cancer in his early 70s. He was an engineer also.

My older cousin was in Army Intelligence right before Vietnam. To this day, he will not talk about it claiming it's still classified. He was stationed in Cali and stayed there near San Fran. He's still there, a successful semi retired writer, over 50 years later.

My cousin's mom was my favorite aunt. My dad sent her letters from the Pacific, 1942- 1945. Over 200 of them. When she died my cousin gave me the letters.

It was the best gift I ever received and I never knew the letters existed until both my dad and aunt were gone.

In 200+ letters, not one time did my dad complain, say he wanted to come home or describe any kind of battle action. He did not want to upset his sister or have anything get back to his mom and dad.
He said in every letter he would be home soon and that we were winning the war. And not to worry.

He did mention in one letter a native girl in New Guinea just walked by in a grass skirt and nothing on top. Him and his buddies gave her tropical chocolate that wouldn't melt in exchange for local fruit and colored bananas. The guys hated the tropical chocolate. The natives would trade sugar sweet fruit for it and everybody was happy.

That generation was incredible.

Happy Memorial Day

You're a 19 year old kid.
You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .
Its November 14, 1965 . LZ (landing zone) X-ray.
Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in.
You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out.
Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again.
As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.
You look up to see a Huey coming in. But.. It doesn't seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.
Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.
He's not MedEvac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's
flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.
Even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway.
And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board.
Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!!
Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm.
He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Army, died at the age of 81, in Boise, Idaho.

doublejj said:

Click to expand...

I once watched a tiger swim across the river in front of our landing boat in Vietnam & disappear into the heavy brush along the riverbank. And then was quickly dismayed when about a minute later they cut the engines to drop the ramp & let us disembark for the night. After seeing how easily it swam the river, there was little consolation that he had landed on the opposite side. To say I slept very lightly that night was an understatement....

tyler.durden said:

You're a 19 year old kid.
You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .
Its November 14, 1965 . LZ (landing zone) X-ray.
Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in.
You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out.
Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again.
As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.
You look up to see a Huey coming in. But.. It doesn't seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.
Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.
He's not MedEvac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's
flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.
Even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway.
And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board.
Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!!
Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm.
He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Army, died at the age of 81, in Boise, Idaho.

Click to expand...

The video where he discusses it.