Memorial Day Weekend

Bison · May 24, 2013, 12:18:41 PM

I hope all my fellow Americans enjoy the weekend and take a moment to remember those who have fallen and served in defense of our great nation.

My plans are pretty simple do some grilling, spend time with the family, visit the local veterans cemetary, and enjoy hopefully some beautiful weather.

Here's a good story about the nation's oldest living veteran.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/24/america-oldest-veteran-to-spend-quiet-memorial-day-at-texas-home/

I'd also like to thank the veterans of our allied nations for their service and sacrifices as well.

LongBlade · May 24, 2013, 12:21:45 PM

There's a museum dedicated to the Big Red One not too far from here. I'm thinking we may head over there.

Bison · May 24, 2013, 12:22:19 PM

Quote from: LongBlade on May 24, 2013, 12:21:45 PM
There's a museum dedicated to the Big Red One not too far from here. I'm thinking we may head over there.

Me too. ;)

LongBlade · May 24, 2013, 12:28:19 PM

Cool. We can compare notes.

mirth · May 24, 2013, 02:25:14 PM

Hope everyone has a chance to enjoy the weekend with family and friends.

Heartfelt thanks to all of you who have served.

The Puss · May 24, 2013, 04:25:17 PM

Do not want to hijack the thread but can we expand that thought to all who have served, died, those who continue to serve to keep us safe in the Western world.

bob48 · May 24, 2013, 04:26:14 PM

^+10. Nice sentiment.

Gusington · May 24, 2013, 04:54:37 PM

Believe it or not MiniGus #1 got an assignment from her girl scout troop this weekend to plant flags at the graves of vets at all the local cemeteries. We are turning it into a family activity.

TheCommandTent · May 24, 2013, 06:30:33 PM

Quote from: Gusington on May 24, 2013, 04:54:37 PM
Believe it or not MiniGus #1 got an assignment from her girl scout troop this weekend to plant flags at the graves of vets at all the local cemeteries. We are turning it into a family activity.

Awesome Gus!

I find it hard to put in words the gratitude I feel towards those who have served, died in the service, and continue to serve out nation. We all owe a debt that can never be repaid and I am sometimes ashamed at how much we take their sacrifice for granted as a country.

Staggerwing · May 24, 2013, 07:20:17 PM

Quote from: The Puss on May 24, 2013, 04:25:17 PM
Do not want to hijack the thread but can we expand that thought to all who have served, died, those who continue to serve to keep us safe in the Western world.

This may have been assumed and thus not said so I'll do so now.

Thank you to all of those brave souls who have served and still serve so faithfully under the many flags of our Free Nations. We are honored by your sacrifices and humbled by the memories of those of you who have made that sacrifice the ultimate one.

MetalDog · May 24, 2013, 08:30:02 PM

Thank you to all our current vets for your service. To those who have gone before, you cannot hear or feel our thanks, but that feeling inside you that made you take up the fight, it was good and proper and true and we are here now because of it. Thank you.

Bison · May 24, 2013, 10:22:25 PM

Quote from: Staggerwing on May 24, 2013, 07:20:17 PM
Quote from: The Puss on May 24, 2013, 04:25:17 PM
Do not want to hijack the thread but can we expand that thought to all who have served, died, those who continue to serve to keep us safe in the Western world.

This may have been assumed and thus not said so I'll do so now.

Thank you to all of those brave souls who have served and still serve so faithfully under the many flags of our Free Nations. We are honored by your sacrifices and humbled by the memories of those of you who have made that sacrifice the ultimate one.

I made of note of all service of our allied partners in the first post. It's at the bottom of the post.

bob48 · May 25, 2013, 07:08:06 AM

I echo all the sentiments expressed above.

Martok · May 25, 2013, 08:35:10 AM

As do I. My thanks to all who have served -- and are serving -- in our nation's and allies' armed forces.

bayonetbrant · May 25, 2013, 09:19:58 AM

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/14/4235649/the-reality-of-being-an-army-kid.html

QuoteKELLY MCHUGH ON A SOLDIER'S SACRIFICE
The reality of being an Army kid
May 14
BY KELLY MCHUGH
Special to The Star

For graduating seniors at Kansas State University, May 18 will mean new beginnings, new careers and new chapters to fill.

I will be joining the other K-State seniors graduating in Bramlage Coliseum. But the date will forever mean something completely different to me. It will be the mark of how far I've come in exactly three years.

On the morning of May 18, 2010, I was getting ready to teach a swimming lesson at Fort Leavenworth's indoor pool when I received a text from my younger sister:

"Kelly, you need to come home now."

I put my phone down and got back to work. What could possibly be going on that she would want me to leave? Her text was followed by another, then one from my mom. Finally, my mom called.

"You need to leave work," she said. Her voice was calm but firm. "Now."

We had moved to Fort Leavenworth about a year earlier. My dad, Col. John M. McHugh, worked for the Battle Command Training Program there. He had left just a few days ago for a two-week visit to Afghanistan.

I turned down my street and everything hit at once. As an Army daughter, I knew exactly what the two unfamiliar cars in my driveway could mean.

One said U.S. GOVERNMENT. I pulled in behind the other car — my pastor's car. Written in big, bold letters on its license plate — PRAY.

My older brother, U.S. Army Warrant Officer Michael McHugh, had deployed to Iraq the month before. I braced myself.

As I passed my home's front windows, I saw two men wearing green uniforms. Two is protocol for bad news.

I walked in the front door and into an embrace from my mom. I didn't even look at the soldiers. All I could think about was comforting her.

While she was still hugging me, she said it.

"It's your dad."

Uttering those words reduced her to tears.

Those parked cars in front of my house and the two men in green uniforms were there because of my dad? My dad had only been in Afghanistan a few days. He wasn't even deployed. How was this even possible?

A suicide bomber had driven a van packed with explosives into a convoy on its way to a NATO peace conference in Kabul. The bombing killed 18 people, including five American soldiers and a Canadian colonel.

I walked to the staircase and sat down. I was emotionally thrown for a loop. I was confused and angry.

The rest of the day was like living in some kind of a dreamland. My brother received the news while in Iraq. It took three days for him to get back on U.S. soil.

My extended family came to Kansas for the funeral. Family friends and military friends traveled from around the world.

It didn't feel real to me until I heard the 21-gun salute, until Taps was played as my dad was laid to rest at Leavenworth National Cemetery. That's when it became reality.

I learned the hard way exactly what an Army kid could go through — taking that step from a proud Army daughter to an even prouder Gold Star daughter.

In the last three years I have learned I will never really completely heal; my life has just taken on a new normal. I can let my dad's death hold me back or I can use it as motivation to move forward.

I am moving forward to make my soldier proud.

On Saturday, exactly three years after my dad was killed in action, I'll be taking that step from college to the real world.

Without my hero, my coach, my biggest fan.

Without my dad.

Kelly McHugh is a student of journalism and mass communications at Kansas State University in Manhattan.