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MEMORIAL DAY 2009

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Bianca
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« on: May 23, 2009, 05:32:32 pm »








In this May 17, 2009 photo, Joe Landaker wipes away tears while visiting the grave of his son, Jared, at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, Calif.

Landaker is among more than 300 volunteers who honor those buried in the cemetery by reading their names leading up to Memorial Day each year.



(AP Photo/
Branimir Kvartuc)
« Last Edit: May 23, 2009, 05:35:26 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2009, 05:38:29 pm »



             










                                          Memorial Day roll call honors 148,000 veterans
           





Gillian Flaccus,
Associated Press Writer 
May 23, 2009
RIVERSIDE, Calif. –

Abts, Richard. Adamski, Walter. Ahlman, Enoch.

The names are whisked away by the hot, gusting wind as soon as they are spoken, forgotten in the stream
of the next name and the next name and the next name.

Fuller, Addison. Fuller, Mary. Furlong, John.

The story of America could be told through these names, tales of bravery and hesitation, of dreams achieved
or deferred and of battles won and lost.

Taken alone, they are just words, identities stripped of place and time, stripped of rank and deeds and meaning.

But they are not taken alone. They are taken together — 148,000 names, representing the entire veteran population of Riverside National Cemetery, a roll call of the dead read aloud over 10 days by more than 300 volunteers.

They read in pairs, rotating through 15-minute shifts in the beating sun, in the chilly desert night and in the
pre-dawn hours thick with mosquitoes.

Some time on Memorial Day, they will read the last name on the 2,465th page.

Some read for their country.

Others read for a father lost in battle or a beloved son cut down in his prime.

And one man reads for no one in particular — except, maybe, for himself.
« Last Edit: May 24, 2009, 01:50:58 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2009, 05:40:41 pm »









Richard Blackaby was just 18 and fresh out of high school in 1966 when he was drafted for Vietnam. His father had served as a Seabee in the U.S. Navy during World War II and Blackaby was desperate to follow in his path.

But the Army said no: Blackaby had epilepsy and asthma and was unfit for service.

Twelve years later, Blackaby — now married with three children — reapplied to the Army and was accepted to the 4th Infantry Division as a forward observer.

But Vietnam was over and the eager recruit spent the next six years waiting for a war that never came. When he was honorably discharged in 1984, he was a sergeant but had never experienced combat, had never called in a real air strike or fired at a real target.

Nearly 25 years later, Blackaby's missed opportunity weighs on him as he patrols his self-selected battleground: Riverside, the nation's busiest national cemetery. While others gave their lives, Blackaby gives his time — and a lot of it, nearly 30 hours a week.

Over the years, Blackaby has made his specialty here not among the remembered and the honored, but among the lost, the abandoned and the forgotten. The work seems to fit his story of missed chances and dashed dreams, his yearning to belong to something greater than himself.

Every day, the 60-year-old grandfather with the crinkly, blue-gray eyes slips on the black leather vest that's his personal uniform and stands at attention as the cemetery honors the cremated remains of dozens of abandoned or forgotten veterans.

Every day, he salutes as the National Guard reads the names off the simple wooden boxes filled with ashes.

Every day, he accepts the folded flag for soldiers he will never know — and then gives it back for the next day's dead.
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Bianca
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« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2009, 05:42:15 pm »









Dog tags engraved with the names of 145 forgotten veterans dangle from a thick key chain that never leaves his side, a different color for each branch of service. He knows the story behind almost every name.

"If I didn't do it, who would do it?" he says. "I mean, they have friends, they HAVE to have friends. They don't go through a whole lifetime and not have somebody that cares about them."

And, true to form, Blackaby reads names — hundreds of them — for the roll call project.

He reads for hours on overnight shifts in the cemetery's eerie gloom, the podium illuminated only by a floodlight. He reads during the weekend afternoons and late into a Saturday night to cover gaps in the schedule.

"Every one that we read off, I feel like I am probably doing their family a favor because they can't be here," he said.

"I'm reading off a whole litany of history. It kind of makes you wonder what's behind each name, what their life was like, what they did."

___

Lamborn, Richard. Lamphear, Everett. Landaker, Jared.

A gust of wind springs up and snatches the last name away.

No one notices it and later, even the volunteer readers won't recall the name of the young Marine or which one of them read it.

All they know is he was a 1st lieutenant, fifth from the bottom on page seven of 2,465.
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« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2009, 05:44:30 pm »









Joe Landaker was the first person to touch his son, Jared, as he slipped into the world on his parents' bed on May 3, 1981, after 36 hours of labor.

From the beginning, Jared was special — but not in the way most parents would want. His skull was compressed during birth and doctors warned that he might be mentally challenged.

During childhood, he kept falling off the growth chart. He barely topped out at 5-foot-8.

But Jared, who went by the nickname J-Rod, surprised everyone.

He took calculus in high school, knuckled down in college and got a degree in physics. He signed up for the Marines his sophomore year and graduated from officer training school in Quantico, Va., among the top five in his platoon of 80 men.

By fall of 2003, he was in flight school and on Aug. 18, 2006, Jared shipped out for Iraq as a Marine helicopter pilot flying a CH-46 Sea Knight with the famed HMM-364 Purple Foxes.

"He overcame so many adversities in his life, time after time," said his father, Joe.

On Feb. 7, 2007, a week before Jared was expected home in Big Bear City, his father was watching CNN at 5:30 a.m., getting ready to go to work, when he saw that a CH-46 chopper had been shot down near while on a medical mission.

Two months before, when two Marines died in a CH-46 crash, Jared had e-mailed his parents within two hours to let him know he was OK.

But this time, hours passed with no word.

"They said there were seven people on board, so I waited. I didn't go to work, waited and waited all day long, waited again for his e-mail or a phone call that he was all right," said Landaker, choking back tears. "It never did come."

At 4:15 p.m., a Marine captain, a chaplain and a 1st sergeant came to tell Landaker his son had died on his last mission before coming home.
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« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2009, 05:46:02 pm »









Since that day, Landaker has been consumed with keeping his son's memory alive. He shares his story with anyone who will listen. He has memorized every detail of his son's life and death. He now knows that the boy who called him "Pops" took 58 seconds to lower his stricken chopper from 1,500 feet to 200 feet; seven seconds faster, and he might be alive today.

"The last thing I want to do is forget about Jared. He comes to my mind all the time, songs, things that you see," said Landaker. "When he was a baby, I'd give him a shower and I'd hold him up and those kind of memories come to mind all the time."

"He's so special to me," he said. "Those Iraqis have no idea who they killed."

The rows of grave markers are cool and smooth in the heat, their numbers obscured by tufts of grass that have crept around the edges of the stone.

Landaker walks, head bowed, along the rows of plots in Section 49B.

"3438. It should be right around here," he says, bending low.

Then Landaker falls to his knees, weeping.

The stories, the details don't matter now: There is no way to unbury the dead, to bring the CH-46 from 200 feet back to 1,500 feet, to reset the clock with seven extra seconds.

"Well, all right son," he says. "Take care, son."

And so he volunteers to help call the roll at Riverside. He will not have an opportunity to read his own son's name, but at least he can ensure that the sons of others are not forgotten.
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« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2009, 05:47:33 pm »









The heat beats down on the volunteers. A dozen spectators press themselves into any sliver of shade — a tree, the thin shadow of the flagpole, an awning.

In the shade near the sign-in booth, Richard Blackaby and Joe Landaker stand ready to take the podium, two strangers awkwardly chatting before their shared 15 minutes of service.

Landaker wears a white T-shirt printed with Jared's photo; Blackaby, for once, has shed his black leather vest for a dark suit adorned with military ribbons and an American flag pin.

They discover a bittersweet bond: Blackaby escorted Jared's coffin to his military funeral at the cemetery two years before. The two men embrace, then step to the podium.

The names pass between them like fragile treasures.

White, Clark. White, Mary. Whito, Russell.

Their 15 minutes pass, and they step down. Landaker, eyes red with tears, has another piece of his puzzle, another connection — another story to cling to.

But Blackaby is not finished. He steps forward again, ready to read for those who will never have the love of a father like Jared's. He will be there until 2:30 a.m. on this muggy Sunday and back again the next day and the next day and the next.

He is patrolling the boundaries of the past, filling gaps in this American story and in his own life — one name at a time.
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« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2009, 10:33:14 am »


             










                                                    SEARCH INTERACTIVE VIETNAM WALL







THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Friday, May 22, 2009

The Washington Times has partnered with the Internet company Footnote.com on a new project that trans-
forms Washington's Vietnam war memorial wall into an interactive, personal journey on the Web.

The Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial allows you to search the names on the wall and to drill down into
the government's official war records to learn details about each of the 58,000-plus heroes enshrined on the
wall.

You can also add your own personal stories, remembrances and photographs.

The digital image of the Wall — actually thousands of photos fused together — locates each veteran's name
where it appears on the Memorial. From there, any visitor from The Times site can leave their stories and remembrances or upload photos of veterans.

Start by clicking on the "Search the Wall" box, where you can select "Search" or "View."

Once you find the name of a soldier, you can add your stories or photos.




Click here to interact with the virtual version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/22/times-partners-with-company-that-makes-the-vietnam/
« Last Edit: May 24, 2009, 10:04:17 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2009, 02:57:07 pm »



             

              US Troops land on the Anzio Beach-head











“At a time in their lives when their days and nights should have been filled with innocent adventure, love, and the lessons of the workaday world, they were fighting in the most primitive conditions possible across the bloodied landscape of France, Belgium, Italy, Austria, and the coral islands of the Pacific. They answered the call to save the world from the two most powerful and ruthless military machines ever assembled, instruments of conquest in the hands of fascist maniacs. They faced great odds and a late start, but they did not protest. They succeeded on every front. They won the war; they saved the world. They came home to joyous and short-lived celebrations and immediately began the task of rebuilding their lives and the world they wanted. They married in record numbers and gave birth to another distinctive generation, the Baby Boomers. A grateful nation made it possible for more of them to attend college than any society had ever educated, anywhere. They gave the world new science, literature, art, industry, and economic strength unparalleled in the long curve of history. As they now reach the twilight of their adventurous and productive lives, they remain, for the most part, exceptionally modest. They have so many stories to tell, stories that in many cases they have never told before, because in a deep sense they didn’t think that what they were doing was that special, because everyone else was doing it too.

“In the spring of 1984, I went to the northwest of France, to Normandy, to prepare an NBC documentary on the fortieth anniversary of D-Day, the massive and daring Allied invasion of Europe that marked the beginning of the end of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. There, I underwent a life-changing experience. As I walked the beaches with the American veterans who had returned for this anniversary, men in their sixties and seventies, and listened to their stories, I was deeply moved and profoundly grateful for all they had done. Ten years later, I returned to Normandy for the fiftieth anniversary of the invasion, and by then I had come to understand what this generation of Americans meant to history. It is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced.”



Excerpts from Tom Brokaws compelling story of a generation of Americans who Re-identified what our Founding Fathers originally authored.

'THE GREATEST GENERATION'





               
« Last Edit: May 24, 2009, 03:14:37 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2009, 04:51:20 pm »


Rachael Freed
Posted: May 24, 2009 08:30 AM

Taking Time To Remember On Memorial Day





In theory, Memorial Day is to honor the memories of those who sacrificed their lives in military service for our country. In practice, some visit cemeteries to plant flowers at graves of family, but typically we celebrate this long weekend, marking it by opening swimming pools and beginning the bar-b-q season. Or it's a marker of fashion change. Reform Rabbi Steven Heneson Moskowitz learned this from his religious school students:


    "One girl told the rabbi '... after Memorial Day one can wear white.' I had no idea what she was talking about. With complete unawareness of my social inadequacies, I asked, 'What do you mean you can wear white?' The girls became excited and animated. Here was a chance to teach their rabbi about fashion etiquette. 'After Memorial Day, you can wear white pants and carry a white pocketbook,' one girl explained. 'You can always wear a white shirt, but only after Memorial Day can you really wear white.' I was dumbfounded. I looked to the [women] ... teachers for help. 'Yes,' they nodded to me. 'It is true. After Memorial Day, you can wear white. But only until Labor Day.' 'Why?' I asked. One girl attempted to answer me. 'You just don't.' They all looked at each other and nodded. I was still perplexed. They were still certain. --Hadassah Magazine Extra


As a society, we value or are seduced away from our values by speed, by instant communication around the globe and ever-increasing computer bandwidths. We're so busy doing -- persuaded that what we do will give us meaning. If we stop long enough to take a breath, which is the opportunity of a holi-day (holy day) we realize that what we really yearn for is intimacy, the real connections that tether us to earth and to each other.


Our deepest connections and fondest memories may be bound up with those who are no longer living. Intimate connections are not limited to life.

In a workshop I recently led, I asked participants to write a legacy letter to someone to make an amend or express a regret. After the workshop, a rather troubled-looking young woman approached me to say that she thought she'd done it "wrong." I assured her that every legacy letter is unique and there is no way to write it wrong, Did she want to share what she'd written? She explained that she'd written her letter to apologize to her father. I felt confused -- what was wrong? She continued, clarifying that her father was dead. I said, "No problem; now you know that death doesn't end relationships." She looked relieved...and then before she left, she reflected that she felt really good about what she'd written, and she believed she couldn't have told her father while he was alive.

This experience reinforced my understanding that relationships don't end with death. That healing and transformation can happen when we simply stop, recall, reflect about, and reclaim our memories, honoring those no longer here in the flesh.

One more thing before we get practical with some ideas for legacy writing to transform your weekend into a holi-day.

Many years ago, when I was a practicing therapist, my former husband and I went to a professional dinner; we were seated with a couple we didn't know. As soon as we introduced ourselves, the men started to talk business, and I guess we did too. We began a conversation about our children. I no longer remember how it came up, but she mentioned that she'd lost a child in his first few weeks of life. I murmured some appropriate words of condolence, and then I asked her what his name was. She began to cry, hesitated, and through her tears she said his name was Alexander. She went on, still crying, to explain that she'd not said his name aloud since he'd been buried fifteen years earlier. She thanked me for asking, and giving her the opportunity to speak aloud the name of this beloved and lost baby, who was rarely spoken of, and never named.

The very first legacy we receive at birth is our name. I quote here from chapter one "What's in a Name?" in my own book, Women's Lives, Women's Legacies:

    Most of us take our name for granted, never fully exploring this essential part of our identity.

    Your name connects you to your family and ethnic group, to your heritage. It marks the place in the world where you belong. . . .your name connects you to the past. It speaks of memory, legacy, and immortality, of a special relationship with the person for whom you were named.


From a legacy perspective, Memorial Day on the calendar provides us an opportunity to make the secular sacred, to name, remember, communicate with, and preserve memories of family members now gone.

Some suggestions/action steps:

1. With your favorite pen and paper available, choose someone who's died who you want to remember today. He or she may be a veteran of a war (Iraq, Gulf, Viet Nam, Korea, WWII or earlier) or your parent or grandparent, a partner, a child. Choose someone whose memory you want to honor, someone who you cared about or loved, someone who was special in your life, someone who left legacies especially for you, perhaps someone for whom you were named.

2. Write the person's name and today's date at the top of your paper.

3. Take a few minutes to focus your thoughts on the person: reflect, remember, recall and jot notes as you do.

4. Next take no more than fifteen minutes to write a letter to the person or your memories about the person to capture and preserve your memories.

5. Consider sharing what you write with family or others who knew this person, perhaps making it part of the weekend's barbeque. Or consider inviting anyone at the pool party to share memories of or a legacy from a family member who has died. It may be the beginning of a family legacy book to preserve memories that can be read again and again, and added to each year. Take time to make this day a Memorial Day.

May your Memorial Day be filled with the riches of memory as you remember your loved ones.
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Bianca
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« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2009, 05:05:48 pm »








Thank you, April!!!





From a legacy perspective, Memorial Day on the calendar provides us an opportunity to make the secular sacred, to name, remember, communicate with, and preserve memories of family members now gone.

Some suggestions/action steps:

1. With your favorite pen and paper available, choose someone who's died who you want to remember today. He or she may be a veteran of a war (Iraq, Gulf, Viet Nam, Korea, WWII or earlier) or your parent or grandparent, a partner, a child. Choose someone whose memory you want to honor, someone who you cared about or loved, someone who was special in your life, someone who left legacies especially for you, perhaps someone for whom you were named.

2. Write the person's name and today's date at the top of your paper.

3. Take a few minutes to focus your thoughts on the person: reflect, remember, recall and jot notes as you do.

4. Next take no more than fifteen minutes to write a letter to the person or your memories about the person to capture and preserve your memories.

5. Consider sharing what you write with family or others who knew this person, perhaps making it part of the weekend's barbeque. Or consider inviting anyone at the pool party to share memories of or a legacy from a family member who has died. It may be the beginning of a family legacy book to preserve memories that can be read again and again, and added to each year. Take time to make this day a Memorial Day.

May your Memorial Day be filled with the riches of memory as you remember your loved ones.
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« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2009, 05:42:14 pm »

Well, I could say, "Happy" Memorial Day, but there is nothing happy about it.  I remember, with sadness, all the people that gave their lives in America's wars.  War is necessary, no doubt about that.  But it isn't always necessary, and too often we have been too quick to pull the trigger on wars we should never have fought at all.

But let's not think too much about that now, let's just say "thanks" and say we wish they were still here.
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« Reply #12 on: May 24, 2009, 10:09:04 pm »



       








                                 Why Is The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier Guarded 24/7?






Is it just symbolism?

or a very special unknown soldier?

 



Best Answer
- Chosen by Voters


It is part honor, part symbolism, but more so to just say that we never forget.

By keeping a guard there 24/7/365, we are honoring all of those who have fallen and have never been
found or identified.

Some may find this tradition odd or wasteful, but those are the ones who truly do not understand.

Believe it or not, there is a profound difference between a soldier who falls on the battlefield and whose body is recovered versus a soldier whose whereabouts are never known. Psychologically it is many times harder for a family to never know just what happened to their loved one because they do not have closure.

If they knew their loved one died, they could begin the healing process and begin to move on, but for the families of those whose bodies have never been recovered, that emptiness in their hearts will forever and always remain.
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« Reply #13 on: May 24, 2009, 10:48:18 pm »

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« Reply #14 on: May 24, 2009, 10:49:02 pm »

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