Katie Peown
Fountain, Colorado
To all who have served, the deceased, past, and present, we honor you every day, but especially today.
To my husband, Matthew, I am so proud of you for everything you do and stand for. I have always stood behind you and your brothers and sisters that stand next to you. I love you to the moon and back<3
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Anonymus
“Not for fame or reward, not lured by ambition or goaded by necessity, but in simple obedience to duty.” –Inscription at Arlington Cemetary
Sean Gaul was one of seven who gave his life on January 09, 2008. But these men will not be remembered in numbers for they live on forever in our day to day freedom.
To those who served with him he is forever remembered as one of the best men they knew and those who didn’t, please remember today as more then a cookout with friends and family for some have paid a high price so that we can celebrate freedom today.
Lets enjoy this day and pay tribute to those who sacrificed it all.
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Cait Adkins
Tampa, FL
I want to thank David Rodriguez for all his sacrifices and being a part of the military to protect us. Even when he has to go away for a long time, I know that what he is doing something that myself, and many others, certainly could not do but he does it so we do not have to.
When he comes back I’ll ask him to tell me stories of all that he did and where he slept. I can say that I am very thankful to be able to sleep in my warm bed and take a shower because many people like him are willing to give that up, along with many other things.
I am so proud of you and love you so much. Thank you for all you do Sparks.
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Mariana Herrera
Tampa, FL
I want to thank my brother Second Lieutenant Santiago Herrera for his service. Being only two years older than myself, my brother has always been my biggest role model and support system.
Watching Santiago grow up was a wonderful experience. He has always been the disciplined type with a very strong work ethic that we learned from our father.
Our parents came from Colombia and moved to the US, where my brother and I were born. Since then, we have had countless opportunities thanks to our parents and my brother gives his service in order to thank this country and my parents for these opportunities.
He makes me immensely proud each and every day.
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Sheaya Biddle
Hinesville, GA
“All gave some, but some gave all”
I just wanted to say thank you to all the service men and women out there who have made sacrifices to make America what it is. And to those who gave their lives we can not thank them enough!
I’m so lucky that my soldier is home for this holiday, and am so proud of him for all the holidays he has missed before this to serve our country. I love you babe and thank you for all the time you’ve put in to the United States Army!
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Andrew Cohen
Rochester, NY
Sometimes I mix up Memorial Day and Veterans Day. As I understand it, the latter is where we take a moment to thank the people who have served, and the former is where we take a moment to remember those who have served, because they’re no longer with us.
So today I’m pouring myself a Vodka martini, one olive, just the way my Grandpa made them.
He was in World War II, and then later in Korea. That second time through, he had become a doctor, and served as such. I always liked that.
See, war is hell. I don’t like war. Call me a bleeding heart, a peacenik, a hippy-commie-pinko-unamerican, whatever; killing just never seems okay to me.
But it happens, right? It happens for a lot of reasons. Once you’ve been in war, once you’ve been shot at and shot at others and watched your comrades get wounded… I can’t imagine ever wanting to go back.
But my grandpa, he did. He did that whole mess in World War II, and then he went back. How he decided to do that, I’ll never know.
Except when he went back this time, he was a healer. Hate the war, support the troops, right? So he went back in a medic role, and took care of our soldiers, our wounded. He took care of young American men out risking their lives with a courage I may never know. It didn’t matter to him if they were fighting for the right thing or not; fact of the matter is, they were fighting. And my Grandpa, he was going to do his best to make sure they didn’t die — you know, so we could celebrate them on Veterans’ Day, instead of Memorial Day.
He was the kindest, happiest man I’ve ever known.
Take just a second to think about Memorial day, and how these memories of loved ones lost should guide us towards a more peaceful future. Then go back to your poolside barbeques and your three-day weekend vacations and whatever else you planned. Me, I’ll be here, sipping this god-awful martini.
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