GAW: Memorial Day 2015 **WINNERS**

I'm in, thanks. Here's a shout out to my nephew, a Navy pilot, and his father (my brother), a retired Navy captain.
 
Fine gesture! Not an entry; father & uncle in WWII (North Atlantic convoys, Bastogne), gone now; RVN is now "History" but not for some of us.
Many of these tributes shed light on the fact that the casualties do not stop when the troops come home. Alcoholism, depression, drugs & suicide have been unintended consequences after the parades.
Let us pray for all the dead and wounded past and present.

"Lest we forget"
Tom
 
I'm in. Thanks for the chance and thanks for your service. :thumbup:

My Grandpa was in the Army, Uncle was in Vietnam, and one cousin was in Afghanistan. Grandpa has told me a lot of stories about how he shot off test rockets in the desert.

My great great great grandfather (though he wasn't fighting in it) was killed by General Sherman and his men in the civil war in front of his wife of children. They shot him, dragged his wife and kids out of their house in their bed, and burned their house to the ground. :(

I'm not absolutely sure, but I think one of my great or great great uncles was in WWII and was KIA.. I'll have to ask Grandma about it tomorrow.

All of the folks here on BF who served, thanks for your service.

Here's a little thing about my great great great grandpa from http://www.bluegraytrail.com/pendleton4.php
 
My grandfather served in Nagasaki as well as Korea in WW2 after my mother was born. I have many fond memories of him and I have his belts and buckles that went through basic training, Korea, as well as the aftermath of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki explosions. Some of my most prized possessions. I heard from my grandfather after he passed, stories of his service. He said that all that was left in parts of Nagasaki was the metal train wheels, still on the tracks. I wish I could have heard more from him, he was a bit of a war buff. Loved the history channel. Still have his WWII books, and pipe tools. I also have uncles that lost their lives in WWII as well. One was a machine gunner, but I don't know where he served. I'm in.
1202-180427_zpsajmbuuyl.jpg
 
Thank you for your service and for this most generous giveaway.

My dad was in the navy and stationed in the Philippines long before I was born.
The experience taught him a lot about the people, himself and life in general. He never liked guns and resisted resorting to violence. He also turned his life over to God and Gabe up drinking. I know that serving was the catalyst to a lot of change in his life and I've always respected his service and what it did for him.
 
I'm in and I will be thinking about my buddy Josh this weekend. I only had a few marine buddies but we bonded like gorilla glue. Josh taught wilderness survival in the Sierra Nevada's and died in the sandbox about 4 years ago.
 
I would like to be in. I never had the opportunity to serve, but thankfully many in my family have. My father served in Vietnam. His ship was activated and they crossed into 'enemy' waters. There was a malfunction and the ship had to turn back. His sister ship was in turn activated and went to see action. It was hit and sunk. Many a soldier lost their lives. I'm thankful for each and every man and woman that has given their lives that we might enjoy the freedoms we have.

Thanks for the GAW and thanks for your service to our Country!
 
Good Man, EyeDog. Good on you.

This is not an entry... me and mine have plenty of quality cutlery... you pass it along to the deserving among us.

I served in Bush War I, Uncle is one of the Chosin Few, his grandson is a CPT in the Rangers. Our original family namesake, my Great Great Great Great Grandfather, served in the Continental Army... joined up on July 22nd, 1776. Wish I had one of his knives.

We've lost some great sumbitches in our history. We all die a little when one of them passes. Bless 'em all.
 
I am in and thanks for the opportunity and your service. Thanks to all that served and those that made the ultimate sacrifice so we can live free in this great country of ours!!! God Bless our troops..
 
I'm in. I want to thank my cousin (in-law) Jeff for his sacrifice and service to our country.

-kielpo
 
Mike, this is an awesome thing to do Sir! Im in.
My Mother was a Trauma Nurse in Nam and I lost two Uncles there as well. My Grandfather I lost in WW2.

I always remember.
Semper Fi.
Freedom isn't free.
 
My father started out WWII in Georgia, as a rifle marksmanship instructor at Fort Benning. When the big push came in '44, he went. He joined Patton's 3rd Army Infantry as a platoon sergeant and was badly wounded at the Battle of the Bulge, carrying shrapnel in his leg and side until the day he died. Earlier, while fighting through a town, his platoon came to the corner of a building and beyond were two tanks fighting, firing tracer bullets from their machine guns at dusk. One of the tracers nicked my Dad's temple and exploded in a shower of sparks. The man next to him screamed, thinking my Dad's head was blown off, but it only left a surface burn. He liked to watch WWII movies, but didn't talk much about the details of his fighting, other than the above anecdote. As a dumb kid of 10 or 11 years I asked him if he ever killed anyone in the war. He said it really wasn't like that, you didn't even see who you were shooting at most of the time. As with most heroes, he was reluctant to talk about his own actions, but reveled in others'.

My Memorial Day knife is my Patriot Acrylic GEC #53 Cuban Stockman. Thanks for the nice giveaway.

PatriotCuban_zpsc21e022f.jpg~original
 
Thanks for your service, Mike, and thanks for this inspiring GAW. I'd like to enter with the understanding that if I'm fortunate enough to win a knife, it will go to my father-in-law who served in the army during WW2; he's in his 90s now. Like black mamba's dad, he was in the Battle of the Bulge, but doesn't talk much about it. He used to attend annual reunions with his "unit" (I don't know the "organizational level" of these reunions - the Timberwolves is all I know), but there are so few of the men left that I think the reunions have stopped.

Tomorrow I'll certainly remember a guy I grew up with, a couple of years ahead of me in school, who was killed at the start of the Tet offensive in Hue; he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. I just now Googled him and found stuff that I'd never seen before; I had a tearful time reading this webpage: http://www.virtualwall.org/dd/DoezemaFx01a.htm

I'd probably never have discovered the website if not for your GAW, Mike. Thanks!

- GT
 
My father, his two brothers and his sister all served in the military during WWII. Uncle John was in the Navy and Uncle Dave and Aunt Florence were in the Army. Dad was in the USMC, fought in the battle of Iwo Jima, was wounded in action and received the Purple Heart. A piece of shrapnel went in his cheek and exited out his back. Like many veterans of that Greatest Generation, he never talked about the war. Both uncles on my mothers side also served during WWII. Uncle Dick in the Navy and Uncle Darwin in the Army.

I was a B-52 & KC-135 mechanic in the USAF from 1968 - 1972. I did not serve in Viet Nam. I salute all those who did. My sister Karen served in the Army in a military intelligence unit during the late 1970's.

Thank you for the GAW Mike, and for your service. If this post is drawn as a winner I plan to give the knife to my 92 year old Uncle Dave, the only one of the above WWII vets still living.

Thanks also for giving us a little time to pause and reflect.
 
I'm in and thanks for the chance.

I'll be thinking of my father who fought in WWII and and carried the scares of battle to his death bed.
 
My favorite is till alive and kicking! My grandfather who is 95 this year was a navy pilot in WWII, stationed in the Aleutian islands and flew bombing missions across to the coast of japan.
 
I'm in... My dads dad served in ww2 and my mothers dad served in Korea. Both were lucky enough to come home. A lot didn't. Thanks to all that have served, past and present.
 
Wow! After reading all of these post, I just have to say " thank you" to all that have served and another thank you to all that are willing to serve but can not because of medical issues.

My service time is nothing really. Enlisted in 1976 and got out in 2002. Stayed in the US most of the time. Never had to shoot at anyone and never had anyone shoot at me. I was lucky. Shortly after I got out, my unit was sent to Iraq and one of the guys in my unit lost his life, SSG Mike Ottolini. I heard through the grapevine that he was killed by a IED. Shame really. Great guy.

Why do the good guys get killed and the slimeballs still walk the streets?
 
Not in, but I'd like to share this. I posted the following to the blog I wrote when I was in Kuwait/Iraq/Afghanistan. I was a contract medic, not military. Thank you to all those who served.
----------

Fairbanks-based soldier dies in Iraq copter crash; 12 wounded

By*Jeff Richardson

Originally published Monday, September 21, 2009 at 3:50 p.m.

Updated Monday, September 21, 2009 at 7:57 p.m.

FAIRBANKS -- A Fort Wainwright soldier died Saturday when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in which he rode crashed north of Baghdad.

Spc. Michael S. Cote, 20, of Denham Springs, La., had been in Alaska since March 2008. The helicopter mechanic was assigned to the Task Force 49 aviation unit at Fort Wainwright.

The circumstances surrounding the crash, which occurred in Balad, Iraq, are under investigation, according to a U.S. Army news release. Cote’s relatives have been notified.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that 12 soldiers were also wounded in the Saturday night crash in Balad. Maj. William Coppernoll, an Army spokesman, confirmed that the injuries were from the same flight.

The Times reported that a powerful thunderstorm passed through central Iraq at the time of the crash, stirring up dust that cut visibility in the area.

A ceremony of prayer and remembrance will be held at Fort Wainwright, although a time for the memorial has not been set.

As of Saturday, there had been 25 soldier deaths in U.S. Army Alaska this year, including six soldiers based at Fort Wainwright.

Link to original story


*BREAK


*My own words......

The thunderstorm that the above article talks about was very powerful.* The wind kicked up massive amounts of dust and reduced visibility to very short distances.* The fine sand filtered into the hallway outside our clinic where it hung like light smoke in the air.* I ventured out to take pictures of the storm, but they came out too dark to post.* The rest of the clinic staff and I left at 2030 on the dot, during an intermission in the storm.* I laid down to sleep about 2045, and shortly thereafter heard the Big Voice talking, but couldn't understand what was being said.* Listening for the accompanying sirens that would signal an indirect fire or other attack, but hearing none, I rolled over and went back to sleep.


Only after learning of the crash the next morning did I put two and two together.* The Big Voice had been recalling all medical personnel to the Air Force-run 332nd EMDG Hospital.

Someone once said a veteran is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."* On 19 September 2009, the United States of America cashed that check.* Spc. Michael S. Cote was 20 years old.* He didn't die from a sniper's bullet, an enemy rocket attack, or even friendly fire.* He was a victim of the cliche "being in the wrong place at the wrong time."** That does not make his sacrifice any less, or diminish his family and friends' pain in any way.* He will be missed.* Rest in peace Spc. Cote.



Requiem
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie;
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you 'grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
 
All gave some, some gave all... Not an entry, just a thank you for hosting such an awesome GAW in remembrance of those fallen in their countries service.

Duane
 
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