We need more like Jonas Parker this day and age, eh?
But, as I see it, maybe the problem is, as the country gets younger and generations begin to separate and become more diverse and not being so close to those we lost (whose Uncle Harry?) and, a loss of a shared sense of our losses because of 'ethnic diversity' (yes, we are immigrants of ____), our ideals/respect for & about Memorial Day begin to fade, become co-opted and thus, sadly, less important. But hey, that's just my 2cents...Just hope we can remember what Mr. Parker died for....
"His death, and the deaths of every solider since, reminds us that freedom is not abstract. It is earned, often painfully, by people who may never see the future they die to protect." Simply beautiful.
I wrote this to Steve Schmidt, and I will share it again here. You guys are my role models and my inspiration. Thanks for everything you do:
##########
Today I went to the Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific and cleaned and decorated the grave of the parents of my best friend in high school. In the chapel I wrote this in the guest book.
“Memorial Day, 2025
Greater love hath no man than this;
That he lay down his life for his friends.
Semper Fi”
Our country will survive.
We will persist.
We will come out of this darkness into the light.
Because we, the people, are not going to lay down and let the fascists take our country from us.
Thanks for helping us keep the light of freedom alive Steve. Your words are always an inspiration.
This is so poignant— so gorgeous— and it so highlights how far we have fallen. I read it out loud to my husband this evening and could not finish without choking up. This Memorial Day I only feel that I need to say “I’m sorry” to those brave soldiers who entrusted this great country to us; we’ve failed. I’m so sorry.
Here's a message from Paul -- he doesn't reveal his last name on his channel, Combat Veteran Reacts. He's one of my favorite Ukraine milvloggers, former battalion commander in Afghanistan who speaks for the troops. He shares my highly negative views of Iraq and Afghanistan, that they achieved no strategic objectives, but he honors the service of his fallen comrades there.
He's a pretty apolitical guy, didn't like Biden much but hates Trump. Trump's all-caps Memorial Day rant infuriated him beyond measure and his tribute to the country, our country, he sacrificed for is stirring:
Thank you, Rick, for delivering the glorious prose of Governor Everett who pays true homage to a fallen soldier with words that have meaning. Words so sadly lacking, in the precious present, in the swirl of disingenuous, disconnected and/or AI generated shit of this "bank and shoal of time." My soldiers, too, thank you. Father, brother-in-law, husband. Three wars and counting.
I attended our Memorial Day observance in Libertyville IL. As I listened to the speakers and as we recited the Pledge of Allegiance, all the words and ideals that were spoken; DUTY, HONOR, BRAVERY, HUMILITY, SERVICE, JUSTICE, OBLIGATION, SACRIFICE, …..not one those words/ ideals applies to Donald Trump or JD Vance or Pam Bondi or Pete Hegseth or Steven Miller or Kash Patel or Lindsey Graham or John Thune or Mike Johnson…….NONE OF THEM.
Democrats and Independents need to call out their cowardice, their corruption, their incompetence and their immorality. VIGOROUSLY.
We owe it to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for ideals we teach our children.
This is the kind of speech, the choice of words, that would have honored the West Point Graduates for joining and continuing our tradition of fighting for our FREEDOM. 💙😔
We need more like Jonas Parker this day and age, eh?
But, as I see it, maybe the problem is, as the country gets younger and generations begin to separate and become more diverse and not being so close to those we lost (whose Uncle Harry?) and, a loss of a shared sense of our losses because of 'ethnic diversity' (yes, we are immigrants of ____), our ideals/respect for & about Memorial Day begin to fade, become co-opted and thus, sadly, less important. But hey, that's just my 2cents...Just hope we can remember what Mr. Parker died for....
Thanks for the post, Rick.
"His death, and the deaths of every solider since, reminds us that freedom is not abstract. It is earned, often painfully, by people who may never see the future they die to protect." Simply beautiful.
I wrote this to Steve Schmidt, and I will share it again here. You guys are my role models and my inspiration. Thanks for everything you do:
##########
Today I went to the Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific and cleaned and decorated the grave of the parents of my best friend in high school. In the chapel I wrote this in the guest book.
“Memorial Day, 2025
Greater love hath no man than this;
That he lay down his life for his friends.
Semper Fi”
Our country will survive.
We will persist.
We will come out of this darkness into the light.
Because we, the people, are not going to lay down and let the fascists take our country from us.
Thanks for helping us keep the light of freedom alive Steve. Your words are always an inspiration.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
Tears in eyes.
Thank you, Rick
Perfect.
This is so poignant— so gorgeous— and it so highlights how far we have fallen. I read it out loud to my husband this evening and could not finish without choking up. This Memorial Day I only feel that I need to say “I’m sorry” to those brave soldiers who entrusted this great country to us; we’ve failed. I’m so sorry.
Thank you for this piece. 🇺🇸
Here's a message from Paul -- he doesn't reveal his last name on his channel, Combat Veteran Reacts. He's one of my favorite Ukraine milvloggers, former battalion commander in Afghanistan who speaks for the troops. He shares my highly negative views of Iraq and Afghanistan, that they achieved no strategic objectives, but he honors the service of his fallen comrades there.
He's a pretty apolitical guy, didn't like Biden much but hates Trump. Trump's all-caps Memorial Day rant infuriated him beyond measure and his tribute to the country, our country, he sacrificed for is stirring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw7_mDONIfY
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
- Lieutenant Colonel John McRae, 1915
May their memory be a blessing.
Bravo
Thank you, Rick, for delivering the glorious prose of Governor Everett who pays true homage to a fallen soldier with words that have meaning. Words so sadly lacking, in the precious present, in the swirl of disingenuous, disconnected and/or AI generated shit of this "bank and shoal of time." My soldiers, too, thank you. Father, brother-in-law, husband. Three wars and counting.
Hey, Rick, did you mean to leave the "morally wounded" phrase (which reads as a typo) as is?
I attended our Memorial Day observance in Libertyville IL. As I listened to the speakers and as we recited the Pledge of Allegiance, all the words and ideals that were spoken; DUTY, HONOR, BRAVERY, HUMILITY, SERVICE, JUSTICE, OBLIGATION, SACRIFICE, …..not one those words/ ideals applies to Donald Trump or JD Vance or Pam Bondi or Pete Hegseth or Steven Miller or Kash Patel or Lindsey Graham or John Thune or Mike Johnson…….NONE OF THEM.
Democrats and Independents need to call out their cowardice, their corruption, their incompetence and their immorality. VIGOROUSLY.
We owe it to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for ideals we teach our children.
This is the kind of speech, the choice of words, that would have honored the West Point Graduates for joining and continuing our tradition of fighting for our FREEDOM. 💙😔