March 19, 2024

2 thoughts on “These are the people Memorial Day is for.

  1. I wish they could all come home alive. Not all of them will, but it doesn’t stop me from praying that they all will.

    This moving tribute to our soldiers in Iraq was made several years ago. It still makes me cry every time I watch it. Here are the lyrics:

    In the quiet misty morning
    When the moon has gone to bed,
    When the sparrows stop their singing
    And the sky is clear and red,

    When the summer’s ceased its gleaming,
    When the corn is past its prime,
    When adventure’s lost its meaning,
    I’ll be homeward bound in time.

    Bind me not to the pasture,
    Chain me not to the plow.
    Set me free to find my calling
    And I’ll return to you somehow.

    If you find it’s me you’re missing,
    If you’re hoping I’ll return,
    To your thoughts I’ll soon be list’ning,
    And in the road I’ll stop and turn.

    Then the wind will set me racing
    As my journey nears its end
    And my path I’ll be retracing
    When I’m homeward bound again.

    Bind me not to the pasture,
    Chain me not to the plow.
    Set me free to find my calling
    And I’ll return to you somehow.

    In the quiet misty morning
    When the moon has gone to bed,
    When the sparrows stop their singing,
    I’ll be homeward bound again.

  2. “ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence, that the good work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.”

    In 1994 an AC-130 crashed off the coast of Kenya during the last days of “Restore Hope” in Somalia. 8 of 14 crewmen died. When their bodies were recovered we loaded them at the airport in Mogadishu for their return to the U.S.

    Competition was fierce to be among the honor guard who loaded the bodies on the aircraft. I unashamedly used my status as the only USAF CMSGT (E-9)in Mogadishu to be a part of that honor guard.

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