Memorial Day - 2013 - UPDATED

I am on a cross-country trip, currently in Georgia.

Memorial Day's are always special to me.  A few of us who reside in Taiwan have conducted a Memorial Day salute to our fallen, each Memorial Day for the past two years.

This year, those of us who previously conducted the Memorial Day Ceremony in Taipei are on vacation, outside of Taiwan.  As far as I know, no ceremony will take place in Taipei this year.

This morning I purchased a copy of the Savannah Morning News.

Inside, printed on the Letters to the Editor page, was a letter from John Osterweil of Tampa, Florida.

I thought Mr. Osterweil's letter sums up my feelings for this special day.

Tomorrow, remember those who didn’t return 

It seems like only yesterday, but I can vividly remember standing on Abercorn Street and watching the troops march down the street heading to ships that would eventually lead them to Korea. 

That was 1950. I was 8 years old, and I also remember but a few years later hearing my mother and father talk about all the boys that didn’t come back. 

Fast forward to the 1960s and ’70s.

I remember so many of my good friends, like my cousin Dean Smith who had only recently graduated from Williams College but wanted to fly, going off to fight in Vietnam.

He and many others didn’t come back.

So it is on this Memorial Day, and all such days to come, that forever memorialized in my brain shall be the countless men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedoms.

JOHN OSTERWEIL
Tampa

John must be 71 years old this Memorial Day 2013, a man who has seen many go and many never return.

Let's share John's thoughts on this Memorial Day 2013, as we remember those did not return, having given their lives, for our country..

God Bless.

UPDATE

 If you missed the gathering on Memorial Day 2012, you can see it here