Memorial Day - Remember

THE REASON FOR THIS HOLIDAY
Many of us will be "celebrating" this long holiday weekend with picnics and other family outings.  As you go about your weekend I hope you will join me in pausing to remember the real significance of this holiday, HERE.

UNDERSTANDING THE SACRIFICE
Monday we recognize those millions of men and women who have given their lives in defense of this country.  Those of us who have proudly served this country in the military have a pretty good understanding of the sacrifice it takes.  The families of those men and women, like Costa Mesan Jose Garibay, who lost their lives during military service have the REAL understanding, though.

A TIME FOR REFLECTION
Each year I write about this holiday.  HERE is what I wrote last year.  Take a moment to re-visit that entry, and listen to the video clip at the end.

THIS YEAR...
This year please take a couple moments to watch this current clip and recognize the brave men and women who so proudly served this country and gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Memorial Day - 2013

WHAT IS THIS HOLIDAY ABOUT?

As we reach the cusp of the Memorial Day holiday today and look forward to three days of recreation and relaxation, I hope you all will take a few minutes to remember just what this day is all about.  You can read the Wikipedia description and history of the holiday HERE.   

HALLOWED GROUND
I visited this place during a visit to Europe many years ago.  It's the American Military Cemetery just a couple kilometers south of Florence, Italy - the final resting place of more than 4,000 American soldiers who died nearby during World War II.  It's a beautiful place - a chunk of the USA - and is meticulously maintained to honor all those men.

STAGGERING NUMBERS

The chart below will give you an idea of how many men and women have given their lives in the defense of our country over the past couple hundred years.  As you scroll down that list it might help you get some perspective as we consider where our young men and women serve and die for us today. One of those is Costa Mesan Jose Angel Garibay, the young Marine who died a decade ago, on March 23, 2003, in Iraq.  Garibay, an illegal alien who hoped for citizenship through his military service, planned a career in law enforcement.  He was buried at Riverside National Cemetery on April 11, 2003 with full military honors, HERE, was awarded posthumous citizenship and was named honorary Costa Mesa policeman by then Police Chief Dave Snowden. 

REMEMBER THEM AND HONOR THEM...

Please take a couple minutes to view this video clip to honor our fallen men and women.  Regardless how you feel about a particular war or police action, the men and women who fought and died in them deserve your respect.

September 11, 2001 - Ten Years Later

A SAD ANNIVERSARY THIS WEEKEND
This weekend we mark the 10th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon - as dastardly a deed as has been perpetrated on our country in its history. And, even as remembrances are being prepared throughout the country, we hear of the possibility of another attack planned for this weekend by the same band of lunatics, as THEY also mark this anniversary.

COSTA MESA REMEMBRANCE
In Costa Mesa a remembrance will be held on Sunday, Patriot Day, beginning at 9 a.m. Here's a copy of the flier for the event.
THE CNN 911 MEMORIAL SITE
Those of you who have been loyal readers since I began this blog in 2005 will recall that I've written about this tragic day every year. Today I'm not going to try to recount all those essays, but will provide you with links to them so you can visit or re-visit my thoughts as each year passed. I will also refer you to the CNN 911 Memorial link I've had on the side of this page since the beginning. You can also reach it HERE. It provides you with information about the victims in many different ways - by name, by company, by flight, etc. It tells you, for example, that the youngest person killed that day in those events was then-2 year-old Christine Hanson, shown here with her parents, who also perished.

"LET'S ROLL"
In the past I've written about Todd Beamer, whose battle cry of "Let's Roll!" launched a counter-attack on Flight 93 that probably saved hundreds of lives in Washington, D.C. as the embattled hijackers flew that plane into the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.


MANY HEROES
That day had many heroes - those brave first responders who did their very best to save the occupants of the Twin Towers as they burned and, eventually, imploded. Hundreds sacrificed their lives to save others. This weekend we will hear those stories, and many more, all over again as our nation pauses to mark this day.

MY PREVIOUS POSTS
Here are the links to my previous essays about September 11, 2001. In them I wrote about friends who were personally impacted by the crashes, and about not knowing if some of them survived. I wrote about the victims and survivors and much, much more. The first two were published on my earlier host site which provided no way to show images.

2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

A SMALL MEASURE OF SUCCESS - FINALLY
I also wrote about the day we finally managed to locate and kill Osama Bin Laden earlier this year, HERE.

SOME PERSPECTIVE
As we mark this day, I think it's important to try to put this "War on Terror" into perspective. HERE's a link to a site that will give you information about casualties in all other wars and police actions in which the United States of America has been involved. I DO NOT, for one second, diminish the loss of American lives over this past decade - every single one is precious. The advancements in battlefield medical treatment and the speed with which our troops can be retrieved from the battlefield and delivered to medical care is tremendous, which has kept the death count lower than decades ago in the Viet Nam War, for example - where more than 58,000 Americans died over the four years of that strife. Please take a few minutes to visit this site.

REMEMBER OUR TROOPS
I hope you'll find a few minutes Sunday to stop and consider what the events of September 11, 2001 has meant to this country. The loss of life and treasure is almost too difficult to calculate and the battle is far from over. Please pause to give thanks to the men and women of our armed forces who VOLUNTEER to fight this battle and do so with pride and bravery. Remember young Costa Mesa immigrant, Jose Angel Garibay, who joined the Marines, hoped one day to become a Costa Mesa police officer and was among the very first American troopers to die in the War On Terror. And don't forget our brave first responders - those Firefighters and Police Officers who stand tall, protecting us every day. Click HERE for a very special remembrance of Garibay's service by a Costa Mesa employee.

"WHERE WERE YOU..."
Finally, this powerful video clip - one of dozens available for viewing on YouTube - with background music by Alan Jackson, will remind you of the horror of that day. As you watch it remember the lives that were snuffed out after those airplanes crashed into the buildings in New York City and Washington, D.C. Remember those brave souls who fought back on Flight 93 and died in that field in Pennsylvania. Remember that, as the Twin Towers crumbled, nearly three thousand people died. They didn't pass quietly in their sleep, they were murdered. Those who did not die immediately when the planes hit the buildings or didn't leap to their deaths to escape the flames were crushed, torn limb from limb and vaporized - many were never identified.




CNN COVERAGE
A neighbor, moved by this blog entry, sent me THIS LINK to a CNN report from 2002. It's 90 minutes of coverage of that day, presented while the wounds were still open and festering.

NEVER FORGIVE AND NEVER FORGET