[Tanada]

Today is the day we are suppossed to remember, so here is my memorial. In 1918 my mother's father was gassed in France fighting for the Allies. He died in 1943 when my mother was a girl of 14 years. In 1944 my father's older brother was wounded in France fighting for the Allies. He passed away more than a decade ago despite injuries that should have killed him back then, having worked his entire career minus part of his intestines and kidney. In 1945 my father was sent to the Pacific to pilot a landing craft for the Invasion of Japan. Fortunately for all of you Japan surrendered after the shock of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, else I would not be here nattering on every day. He is still alive and in relative good health at 80 years of age. In Korea my Father-In-Law fought the Chinese at the Chosen Resevoir in North Korea. He was badly frost bitten and carried those injuries until his death a few years ago. In Viet Nam I had several brother's-in-law, some of whom died before I met them, others carry the scars still today. One of my older brothers served in the USN in the late 1970's, my younger brother did so in the 1980's and 1990's. I asked to serve but was rejected by the government. One of my sisters served in the USAF in the 1980's, and her husband served his entire career there including in Desert Storm. He retired in 2000.

Today I remember, and honor, all of them, for their service.

[jackal42]

My deepest respects for anyone and everyone who has fought in war.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” :Theodore Roosevelt