Memorial Day 2020

[blackhawknj]

Coved-19 seems to have cancelled a lot of life, so to speak, and one of the things cancelled was Memorial Day-and the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe.
I was going to march in my town's Memorial Day parade doing a WWII paratrooper-I did graduate from jump school in 1969. (8 jumps-wow!)
My family has been little touched by the wars of the United States, few served, few lost. My mother told me my maternal grandmother said she lost an uncle or great uncle-or a couple of them at Gettysburg-Union troops, my mother said she had a cousin by marriage who was MIA at the Bulge, that's all I know of.
The real meaning of Memorial Day has been summed up by Charles Johnson Post, author of The Little War of Private Post, his account of his experiences in the Cuban Campaign of 1898-a rather small conflict compared to the Civil War and what was to come in the 20th Century. But as Post reminds us:
"Whether a man falls with 20,000 others in some grand battle or all by himself on a lonely outpost, he is a 100 percent casualty to him self. What more is there to give?"

 

[Mobuck]

Several in my family served in wartime and one was a career Navy man. One GreatGrandfather was wounded twice in the Civil War. Dad and 4 of my Uncles served in WW2. My Uncle enlisted in the Navy at the end of Korea and retired mid-1980's. My Brother and I wore the uniform during the VN catastrophe. Son-in-law made two tours in the Middle East. Wife's Great Grandfather was shot through the mouth in the Civil War and her Dad was in the Air Force.
Only 4 of us were wounded and no one died. Pretty good run of luck if I do say so.

 

[Jeepnik]

I'm gonna brag a bit. As far back as I know off all of the males, except one uncle served. Some in peace time others in war time. The one uncle who didn't serve in the military, heart murmur, was a Merchant Marine in WWII. Went to a place called Murmansk among others.

In my kids generation all, girls and boys served. It's just what we do. Several have been career military. And in all of this, while many of us got banged up a bit, only one died. He was my maternal grandfather. He died of a heart attack while stationed in San Francisco. He had been medically discharged a bout a year before Pearl Harbor. Then after the war started he was miraculously fit for duty again. Hard to keep and old China Sailor out of the fight.