Proud To Be An American

A brief note wishing all of you a safe Memorial Day weekend.

My wife Lynn and I are caretakers of Hazel Green Cemetery in Boulder City, Missouri and will be spending a lot of time greeting those guests who arrive to pay tribute to loved ones who are buried in the cemetery.

Anytime someone who has space reserved dies we make a trip to stake the graves to be dug in advance of the services. We often will clean up flowers, spread good black dirt and seed on fresh graves, and spent a lot of time helping to clean up following the ice storm which devastated many of the beautiful old trees which provide shade.

But given all of that time spent my favorite duty was performed last night. We walked the cemetery placing American flags on veterans graves. I don't know the exact number of veterans that are buried there but I would guess it to be close to 50-75 all who spent a portion of their lives in defense of this country and the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.

Buried at the cemetery are soldiers from the Civil War era, one who I can remember served in WWII, the Korean, and Viet Nam wars, there is a Bronze Star recipient, there is a Naval Seaman whose ashes are at sea, and many others who thankfully never saw battlefield horror. But they are all veterans and deserve equal recognition and remembrance.

My Dad was in WWII as a B-25 pilot carrying out bombing missions in the South Pacific. My Dad passed away in 1989 and I regret I didn't spend more time learning about his service in WWII. He often told stories to family members and I regret that I didn't pay more attention and didn't ask questions as now I would give my eye teeth to be able to sit and listen to him tell me about his experiences.

My middle brother John, who is living, is a former Marine who navigated while flying in an F-4 jet carrying out reconnaissance missions during peacetime.

Last night as I put out flags I also thought of those veterans who are part of our association, of course Skip Rich (Cole) was the most recent active duty member but we have many others who have stood and been recognized at the conference banquet. A personal thanks to you for your service whether in a period of war or not.

Your honor should not be a once a year remembrance and I believe that there is more year round appreciation for veterans than there used to be.

I never served in the military, therefore I can not formally salute you. I hope however, you will accept this posting heading into Memorial Day as my salute to you.



***Please feel free to click the comments link at the bottom of this story and send in the names of those who you honor and remember for their service. I will post the comments as soon as possible after receiving them.