Memorial Day
Today’s Boston Herald front page photo by Herald photog Matt West, whose father was killed in the north tower on Sept. 11, 2001, a non-combatant casualty of war. Memorial Day roundup follows:
Herald’s Peter Gelzinis in Swampscott, Mass., which lost Army Spc. Jared Raymond, a tanker, in 2006 and USMC Capt. Jennifer Harris, a medevac chopper pilot, in 2007.
Fox newsman Joe Battenfeld, former Herald reporter, buried his cousin this weekend, 63 years after the Navy flight surgeon and a Navy pilot were killed on a remote mountainside in Washington state.
Vickie Maudlin, Herald op-ed: Let’s Be Worthy of Warriors. The retired USAF senior enlisted woman says remembering makes us worthy. I’d go a step farther and suggest that at times like these, something more is called for.
Thomas Donnelly and Frederick Kagan at NY Post: The Proud, the Few: Stretched to its Limits, Our Military Needs 1 Million Men. They dispense with the bizarre and irresponsible political argument that we fix a stressed military by surrendering, and make the case for a dramatic wartime expansion.
Related, Abu Muqawama with an idea for American youth looking for meaningful employment in a strapped job market. Links to an NYT article on youth unemployment that includes a smart-ass remark about Iraq but otherwise ignores that option. Interestingly notes that “immigrants” competing with young Americans for low-end jobs. Hey, I thought nobody wants the jobs that the document-challenged selflessly do for us. My bright military expansion idea. Introduce an assault skateboard unit, part of the military’s new Xtreme Forces, to attract young smart asses like the one quoted by NYT and Muqawama whose idea of being all he can be is a mall skateshop job. Also, offer illegals citizenship upon completion of a four-year enlistment.
Muqawama’s Memorial Day post notes that now that we’re winning, the national media has become distinctly less interested.
Blackfive, with Promises to Keep and Remembering the Wounded.
Mudville with a big roundup, also The Warrior Caste and Remembering Rick, about the great Rick Rescorla, British-born American soldier who died saving others in the Twin Towers. Seen below moving forward in the bayonet charge on Nov. 16, 1965, at LZ X-Ray at the Ia Drang, where he served as a platoon leader in 2/7 Cav with my friends Larry Gwin and John Eade.
Villainous Company, Living with Ghosts, excerpts and links on Rescorla at the Ia Drang and at the Twin Towers.
Castle Argghhh!!! on reading the stories in stone.
Don Sensing channels Pericles and Shakespeare in his tribute.
Jawa channels FDR on cheerful door-locking idiots … hey, that resembles FDR’s party 65 years later!
Speaking of which, here’s Gateway with Jimmy Carter’s Memorial Day message.
Surber sets aside the song parodies for “God Bless America.”
Ace of Spades remembers CSM James Blankenbecler.
Malkin, “Remembrance, Gratitude, Fortitude,” with a roundup of editorial cartoons, vid and quotes.
Small Wars Journal with Headquarters Grand Army of the Republic, General Orders No. 11, Washington D.C., May 5, 1868, followed by an excellent roundup.
Kristol at NYT, Remember to Remember, and pay attention to what they are accomplishing. Kristol’s son is at Harvard and in NROTC, and will be going into the Marine Corps, by the way.
And those who forgot. Instapundit makes the rounds of big sites to see who is observing our national day of remembrance. He forgot to include Drudge. As of 8:45 a.m. today, not a link, and the review of the past three days’ headlines doesn’t show one, either. Well, there’s a nod to PRC troops in the quake zone, and a top-ranking officer warning the military to stay out of politics. Let me know if I missed the big “Lest We Forget” post.
Here’s someone who didn’t forget. We close with Theo’s Memorial Day tribute from across the pond, and things worth fighting for.
And kick into summer with cool drinks, hot links at Maggie’s Farm.
Topics: military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 7:46 am on Monday, May 26, 2008
3 Responses to “Memorial Day”
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May 26th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Impressive roundup, Jules. Thanks.
I’ll be remembering, in my own small way, my father and uncles who served in WWII and made it home (although one of my uncles left a lung and some of his ribs in the Pacific), my ancestors who fought in every American war, and my husband who, although he never saw combat in Vietnam, did ten years of PsyOps on behalf of America.
My children just don’t know how lucky they are.
May 26th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Let me also add a special thanks to Saltydog, wherever she may be, for her service as well.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Yup, big 10-4 on Saltydog!