febobe

I would like to join others in sharing something special for Memorial Day. So, here we go.

My great-great-uncle, Ed M., was in the military in World War II. He was captured by the Germans and was a prisoner of war for a long while. As if that in itself weren't a horrible enough experience, he was on the death march from Poland to Berlin. In the snow. As a result, to this day he cannot keep toenails: they start to grow out, then fall out, because of the damage suffered on that terrible wintry trudge so many decades ago. He once took some discarded potato peelings to try and help an undernourished companion with pneumonia. For that "offense," his captors threw him into solitary confinement. He was awarded the Purple Heart following his captivity, and he was an amazing and generous enough soul to allow his middle schooler twelve-year-old great-great niece, along with her mother, his great-niece, to take that medal all the way to her History Day competitions, out of town, no less than three times - District, State, and Nationals, the latter in Washington, D.C.. He was kind enough to share a bit of his story on cassette recording for that same project. That astounds me even more now that I am old enough to grasp a glimmering of what horrors he must have endured. I cannot begin to imagine the kind of nightmares he lived through. I am very glad that I can't, but I know that the only reason I can't imagine them is because he and so many others did their best to ensure that I never would know the nightmare of Nazi control - or that of other forces which would have harmed all of us.

"Uncle Ed" is now the only one of his siblings surviving. His sister was my great-grandmother; she passed away in May 1998. Their other siblings have gone on before as well. Uncle Ed is a survivor in so many ways, and today I would like to pay tribute to the many sacrifices he and his fellow men made for the freedom of people around the world. They gave up so very much for the rest of us. For people they had never even met, many of whom they would never see. They left behind families who suffered their absence and often great loss.

This Memorial Day, let us take a moment to remember the service of those who have given. A special shout-out to all the veterans and their families who are on my flist. I'm thinking of all of you today. I know SurgicalSteel is among those who've served, and Budgielover has served in the Diplomatic Corps. If there are others, I promise I'm not omitting your names intentionally; those are just the only ones I'm sure about at this moment. If you too served, or if someone in your family did so...thank you. Thanks to the families and servicefolk and all who have given up so much for us.

Let us never forget the sacrifices we can never repay.

*hugs to all of our servicepeople and their loved ones*