Observing Memorial Day

WHY?
As I type this we're half way through the Memorial Day weekend and I suspect most of us really have not given this holiday much thought - except that it gives us another day "off" from whatever it is we do to spend time otherwise.

THANKS FOR THE REMINDER
So, thanks to Fox News and Bret Baier for this short primer on what this holiday is supposed to be - remembering those who have given their lives for our country in defense of our freedoms.

THIS IS WHY...
And, to help us understand just WHY we need to be reminded, here's a clip that demonstrates it for us all.

FOR THOSE WHO GAVE ALL
Several years ago we visited this American Military Cemetary just south of Florence, Italy.  This hallowed ground is the final resting place of more than 4,000 Americans who gave their lives for our freedoms during World War II.  I will never forget that visit and the feeling I got walking among those pristine grave markers.  Remember those who gave everything for our country sometime this weekend.

Memorial Day - Honoring The Fallen

A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE
Monday, May 25, 2015, is Memorial Day - that day we set apart to remember those men and women who gave their lives in the service of our country as members of the Armed Forces of the United States of America.

NOT A TIME FOR CELEBRATION
This weekend millions of Americans will use this long holiday weekend to trek to some distant place for the beginning-of-summer vacation.  Unfortunately, most will "celebrate" this holiday without ever giving a thought to what it actually means.  This is not a day to celebrate, but a day to remember and honor those who served and gave their all.  This image is of the Florence American Military Cemetery just south of Florence, Italy, the burial site of more than 4,400 American soldiers who lost their lives in World War II near this location.  My wife and I visited that hallowed place and were very moved by the pristine condition and the respectful presentation honoring those brave men.

ONE MORE TIME...
Each year I've written about this day, hoping you will stop sometime next Monday and pause to reflect about the significance of this day of remembrance.  Last year I wrote this, HERE. 

TAKE A LOOK AT THESE NUMBERS
To help you remember what this date is all about, please take a look at this chart, extracted from THIS SITE.  As you scroll down through those entries, take a few minutes to let those numbers sink in.  (Click on the image to enlarge, if necessary)

PUTTING A FACE ON THE DAY

To help you understand what this actually means, let's get personal for a moment.  One of those 58,209 names listed under the Vietnam War is Sergeant Eddie Chervony, father of Costa Mesa City Employee Jeanette Chervony.  You can read about the bravery of Sergeant Chervony HERE.  He was one of the young men who bravely fought in that very unpopular war and gave the ultimate sacrifice in the service of his country.

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN
So, as you pause now to contemplate this holiday, here's a little help from Lee Greenwood.

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.

Editorial Got It Wrong

OFFENDED BY EDITORIAL
As a Vietnam-era veteran who lost several compatriots in that meaningless war, whose uncles proudly served this country in World War II and whose grand-nephew presently serves in Afghanistan, I was profoundly offended by the editorial published in the Daily Pilot online May 26th titled, "Honor the fallen in the civil rights war too", HERE.

THE REASON FOR THIS HOLIDAY
The reason for the Memorial Day holiday is to pause and reflect on the hundreds of thousands of men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice in ALL our military engagements, whether we called them "wars" or "police actions" or "skirmishes".  It is to pay our respects to those brave people who died in the military service to our country - ALL of them.


DISRESPECT FOR THOSE WHO SERVED AND DIED
For the Daily Pilot to publish an editorial that attempts to somehow equate the death of Harvey Milk - a military veteran and openly-gay politician who was murdered by a deranged colleague -  to those men and women who died in military service to this country is a despicable act of disrespect to all who served and died, to those who served with them and to those who survived them and honor their memory this weekend.

THEY, TOO, SERVED
During my tour of service nearly 50 years ago I served with men I knew to be gay and some women who were lesbians.  They did not hide their sexual orientation, but neither did they flaunt it.  All I saw were men and women proudly serving their country and I was proud to serve along side them. 

INAPPROPRIATE AND OFFENSIVE
In my view, it is completely inappropriate for an editorial that begins purporting to honor those who died in military service to this country to be morphed into a a gay and lesbian rights manifesto.  Whether the Orange County Board of Supervisors fails to designate recognition of Harvey Milk's birthday or not may be a subject for ANOTHER editorial, but not one that honors fallen military men and women.

 INSENSITIVITY
I would be very surprised to learn that ANY member of the Daily Pilot Editorial Board has ever served in the military.  If they had,  they would understand just how inappropriate and offensive this particular editorial is to those of us who have served.  My comment is NOT an anti-gay screed, although I suspect some will attempt to characterize it as such.  It is simply an expression of my disappointment in the Daily Pilot Editorial Board for its insensitivity - nothing more.

Memorial Day, 2012

 STOP AND REMEMBER THE REASON
As you celebrate this long holiday weekend please take the time to stop and remember the reason you can have your family gatherings, cook-outs and enjoy a peaceful day.  Remember the men and women who gave their lives to make it possible.

TAKE SOME TIME TO STEP BACK
I've written about this holiday every year for awhile.  You can read what I wrote last year HERE and in 2010 HERE.  And, if you follow the links, you can step back even further.

MOTORCYCLE ENFORCEMENT
I wish you all a very safe holiday weekend.  If you live in Costa Mesa please remember that the CMPD will be tightening up motorcycle safety enforcement - the second consecutive Saturday they've done it to try to make our streets safer for us all.

MEMORIAL DAY - 2011

REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THIS HOLIDAY
As you celebrate this long holiday weekend with loved ones please take at least a few minutes to remember what this holiday is actually all about. Remember the men and women who have given their lives to preserve and protect the freedoms we all enjoy today.

SOME PERSPECTIVE FOR YOU
It may be helpful for you to understand the scope of that sacrifice. The following chart represents a listing of all the American lives lost in ALL the wars and other conflicts in which we've been engaged since the founding of this country 235 years ago. If you want even more detail you can find virtually everything you ever wanted to know on this subject HERE.

AMERICAN WAR CASUALTIES

I've written about this subject each Memorial Day weekend for several years. You can read what I wrote about it last year HERE.

THANKS TO ALL OUR SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN
Now, let Sarah McLachlan help you gain some perspective as you watch this video and look over that chart above. Thanks to all our young men and women currently serving our country in the armed services around the world.

Memorial Day - 2010

(4402 Americans buried at Florence American Military Cemetery,
south of Florence, Italy)

WHAT IS MEMORIAL DAY?
As we approach this long Memorial Day holiday weekend we here at A Bubbling Cauldron hope you will find some time to stop and contemplate exactly what this holiday is all about. In case your memory is a little vague on the subject, Wikipedia provides you with a little help, HERE.

LIVES LOST
To remind you just why we honor our fallen troops, here's a little chart that will give you some perspective. It tallies up more than a million lives lost in combat fighting to defend our country. This weekend please bow your head in gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.
REPRISE
A couple years ago I wrote about this holiday. I think you may find that entry worth re-reading HERE.

NEVER FORGET
Now, let singer LeAnn Rimes help you contemplate this holiday.

Memorial Day Musings

ANOTHER MEANDER DOWN MEMORY LANE...
I thought I'd reprise something I wrote three years ago, on May 26th, 2006 - when I was using my previous blog host. Most of you current readers - both of you - have probably not seen this, so I thought I'd share it with you for some nice Memorial Day reading while I spend the weekend celebrating my 50th high school reunion with a bunch of geezers I may not even remember. Yikes! Fortunately, my sweet, patient and much younger wife will join me for this milestone event, to wipe the drool from my chin and keep me from falling asleep face-first in my mashed potatoes. I'll be back next week. Enjoy...

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May 26, 2006

TOTTERING ALONG

As the clock continues to tick I found myself at a major milestone in my life earlier this week. Following a much-needed nice, little vacation that took my sweet wife and myself to our favorite California city, San Diego, and included a few days at another favorite place on the Central California coast, we returned home in time for my scheduled appointment Monday at - ta da! - the Social Security office!

EFFICIENTLY SIGNED-UP
After a brief, efficiently-conducted interview with a helpful young woman, I was out of there in fifteen minutes flat and am now poised to join tens of millions of other American geezers bellied up to the trough of Social Security and Medicare. I confess that I haven't yet untangled the ball of snakes that is Medicare Part D - the prescription drug program. That will come soon.

SURE SIGNS OF MY AGE
As I head on into this summer, which brings with it a major milestone birthday, I find myself having some very strange urges. Meandering through the aisles of my local drug store I find myself slowing as I pass the Ensure display, checking out the flavor choices. I feel my pace quicken as I approach the aisle where the Depends are stacked neatly on the shelves, unwilling to even consider that particular requirement for the time being.

PASS THE DEFOLIANT, PLEASE
Is it my imagination, or are my ears getting bigger? And what's with those hairs? Nobody told me I'd eventually have foliage sprouting from almost every orifice in my head! I used to joke about those nose hair trimmers from The Sharper Image but today, if I didn't tend to my ears and nostrils, you'd think I was wearing earmuffs and growing a mustache!

LOOK OUT! HERE THEY COME!
I find myself glancing over my shoulder from time to time for fear of being trampled by the hoard of baby boomers who begin turning 60 this year and thunder into geezerdom, demanding more and more services and spending money like drunken sailors - just as they've done throughout their lives.

SAME GUY, ONLY MORE OF HIM
All this is very disconcerting. When I look in the mirror as I shave each morning I still see that "kid" who has smirked back at me more than five decades, when I first began scraping off the stubble with a Gillette double-edged safety razor, applied styptic stick and toilet paper to the nicks and slathered on the Old Spice. He has gotten a little more pudgy and his hair has gone from blond to brown and back to blond again. Well, not really blond - more like silver, but I tell myself it looks kinda blond in the right light.

MIXED BLESSING
Even though I love the senior discounts at the movies and restaurants and carry a Golden Age Passport to national parks, I still have a tough time when someone in their forties or fifties calls me "sir'.

WANTS AND NEEDS
All this has given me a little mid-life crisis (don't I wish!) and I find myself wanting to run out and buy a sports car. The only problem is, something in my aging cranium keeps whispering "Buick"! Arrgghh!

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REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THIS HOLIDAY

Have a very safe Memorial Day Weekend and try to carve out some time to remember what it's really about. Maybe this link will help. The photo above is of the American Military Cemetery just south of Florence, Italy. It's a wonderful, peaceful place where the remains of over 4,000 American soldiers who died during World War II are buried.

Memorial Day, 2007

REMEMBERING FALLEN HEROES

As we approach the Memorial Day holiday my thoughts turn to those brave men and women who have fought for this country over the years. Of course, I think of those who attempt to fulfill their mission in the Middle East today - those brave volunteers who serve this country in what can only be described as a hell-hole in Iraq, with the ever-present threat of IEDs, snipers and mortar attacks. I think of those who continue to chase the Taliban back into their dusty holes in Afghanistan. They all deserve our respect and support. I think of Jose Angel Garibay, the young Costa Mesa resident who was the first Orange County resident to fall in the current war, and who was laid to rest at the Riverside National Cemetery

My thoughts also turn to those who have fought for this country in other remote parts of the world. I recall, during a trip to Europe twenty years ago, visiting the American Military Cemetery just south of Florence, Italy. The photo at the top of this page is of that location. This place - 70 acres of sacred soil - is the location of graves of 4402 dead American soldiers, airman and sailors who lost their lives fighting in Italy in 1944. As you walk through the grounds and view the monuments and grave markers you cannot help but be moved by the sacrifice those men gave in defense of their country. I still get choked up just thinking about my experience there. This burial ground is one of 24 such places located on foreign soil that are managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission, established in 1923. You can read more about this commission and the battle monuments here.

The image to the right is of the cross and flag at Mt. Soledad, in San Diego. At the base of the cross are plaques with names and accomplishments of men and women who served our country. I recommend a day trip down to see this wonderful monument, which is viewed by hundreds of thousands of people each day as they commute to and from work. As you celebrate this holiday in whatever way you feel is appropriate, I hope you'll take a moment to reflect on it's real purpose. California Assemblyman and former Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva has posted a very relevant entry on the Red County/OC Blog entitled "Freedom Isn't Free". I hope you'll click on that link and read his message on this very special holiday.

Whether you agree with the current conflicts in the Middle East or not, please remember the men and women who volunteered to serve on our behalf. As you watch the race cars circle the track at Indianapolis I hope you'll think of the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us. As you picnic in a park, incinerating hot dogs and hamburgers, please remember those who serve us in distant places. Our freedom and liberty were won with the sacrifice of young lives. Please take a moment to recall their sacrifice and that of their families so we all can enjoy our lives today. Remember the flag and cross and all they represent.