On Memorial Day, remember this fact

05/26/2019Stan R. Mitchell

As you celebrate this great day in our land, I hope most of you have the day off. And I hope you also take at least a moment to remember all those who died so that we could live in such peace and prosperity in this incredible country.

But I wanted to make one other point that I think often gets forgotten. Yes, we do a decent job of remembering those who died in battle. But I think we forget those who died in peacetime. In regular ole’ training — almost NONE of which is safe.

I probably came closer to dying during a couple of different training exercises than I actually did in harm’s way. Matter of fact, my battalion went into harm’s way in 1997 and returned without any losses. But we lost a great man in “routine” training in 1999. (Lance Corporal Andre Foster.)

If you read one story on Memorial Day, make it this one: A Marine’s crazy, four-day courtship, and the ring he’ll never get to deliver.

Our freedom isn’t free, even when there are no bullets flying at us from some enemy bent upon our destruction.

And if you want to mention below in the comments a loved one who died defending this country, in either peacetime or war, I’d be honored.

Semper Fidelis,

Stan R. Mitchell

terry whitford 05/27/2019 / 12:26 am

1/Lt Randy Eisenhower, USA, 1966, RVN
Cpl Charlie Frisbee, USA,1967, RVN
Ricki J Meyer, USMC, brain cancer from AO, 2011

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- Stan R. Mitchell 05/27/2019 / 12:55 pm
  
  Thanks for naming those, Terry.
  
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  - terry whitford 05/29/2019 / 12:59 am
    
    They are forever with me and now I have passed them on to you.
    Semper Fi
    
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    - Stan R. Mitchell 05/29/2019 / 9:39 pm
      
      Semper Fi, brother.
      
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Mike P 05/27/2019 / 5:25 am

Riding down to J-Ville this morning, going to the Memorial to spend some time with the fellows. Will tell my wife the same stories she’s heard before and shed a few tears. And though there hasn’t been too many days that I haven’t thought about those guys, killed in a far away land all of those years ago, for a few moments I will feel like I’m close to them again. Semper Fi, 1/8 for life.

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- Stan R. Mitchell 05/27/2019 / 12:54 pm
  
  Agreed, Brother. Semper Fi, 1/8 till the end.
  
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GP Cox 05/27/2019 / 7:06 am

Everett A. Smith (Smitty), US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO
James J. O’Leary, USMC, WWII, Korea, Vietnam & Cuban Missile Crisis
Michael T. Sadlo, USMC, War on Terrorism
Arthur Mulroy, US Navy, Korea & Cuban Missile Crisis

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- Stan R. Mitchell 05/27/2019 / 12:55 pm
  
  Thanks for naming those, GP.
  
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Connor Bedell 05/27/2019 / 1:45 pm

SFC Michael Cathcart, US Army. Killed In Action on November 14, 2014 in Afghanistan. 31 years old.
Richard Bahm, US Navy, Korean War (Died as a result of Mesothelioma from being a pipe fitter in the Navy) July 1999

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- Stan R. Mitchell 05/27/2019 / 8:59 pm
  
  Thanks for naming those, Connor.
  
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John Iacovino 05/28/2019 / 12:45 pm

Thank you, Stan.

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- Stan R. Mitchell 05/29/2019 / 9:39 pm
  
  Thanks, John! Great to hear from you.
  
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tactpunk 05/28/2019 / 10:51 pm

Sgt. John Kreuter United States Army Air Corps and United States Air Force. WWII and Korea.

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- Stan R. Mitchell 05/29/2019 / 9:39 pm
  
  Thanks, brother. Hope you’re well.
  
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instafamoushub.com 06/12/2019 / 3:05 am

Veterans Day, November 11, in memory of American military deaths during World War I. See Remembrance Day for similar observances in Canada, the United Kingdom, and other Commonwealth nations.

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