Veterans Day 2020 Remembrance and Gratitude

My post for this Veterans Day is dedicated to Sgt. Walter Morgan Bryant Jr., USMC; R.I.P my dear friend!

… there is an old Marine poem… it says: ‘When I get to heaven, To St. Peter I will tell, Another Marine reporting sir, I’ve served my time in hell.”         ______ Eugene Sledge, USMC veteran of Peleliu & Okinawa

For the U.S. Marine Birthday, 10 November – CLICK HERE!!

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze
A young Marine saluted it, and then
He stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd.

I thought, how many men like him
Had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?

How many Pilots’ planes shot down?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, Freedom is not free.

I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant “Amen”
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
at the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, Freedom isn’t free!!

by: Kelly Strong, posted at vietvet.org

For Remembrance of the Pacific War, from: “The Voice of the Angels” newspaper of the 11th Airborne Association

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For All Those In Free Countries Celebrating Remembrance 0r Poppy Day

Poem from another Vietnam veteran…

https://militaryfamilymuseumwarstories.wordpress.com/2022/06/25/remember-us/

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For The Military Today – 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Robert Avrutik – Yonkers, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, radioman

Grover “Spook” Browning – Newdale, ID; US Army, WWII, ETO, Purple Heart

Anthony Colavito – West Calwell, NJ; US Army, WWII, PTO, demolition

James Dunn – Lubbock, TX; US Navy, WWII, Purser, USS Franklin

Morris Horton – Sidney, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. F/187/11th Airborne Division

Adrian Miller – Winamac, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 101st Airborne Division

Albert Sakey – Boston, MA; US Navy, WWII, ATO & PTO, PT-boat radioman

Ottis Stout (101) – TX & CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, B-17 tail gunner

James Thomas – Dry Ridge, KY; US Army, 188/11th Airborne Division

Paul W. Wilkins – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., B Co./1/21/24th Infantry Division, KIA (Choch’iwan, SK)

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I have a list of parades and celebrations, if anyone is interested, tell me where you’ll be 11 November 2020 and I will see if I can locate one near you!!

 

No Veteran Should Be Without a Place to Call Home

Free Help for Homeless Veterans Dial 1-877-4AID-VET (1-877-424-3838) for 24/7 access to VA services for homeless and at-risk Veterans

Homeless Veteran Chat Confidential, 24/7 online support for homeless Veterans and friends

https://www.va.gov/homeless for more information

Are You a Veteran in Crisis or Concerned About One? 

Did you know that VA offers same day services in Primary Care and Mental Health at 172 VA Medical Centers across the country? Make the Connection Resource Locator

Contact the Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 and press 1, Chat, or Text 838255.)

Don’t know what number to call?

1-800-MyVA411 (800-698-2411) is never the wrong number

Have a concern, compliment, or recommendation for VA?

Call the White House VA Hotline at 1-855-948-2311

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