Memorial Day

[ANGCatFan]

Please pause this Memorial Day and remember those who have given all for our country and their families. You can look at the big picture of the losses from each war, some of the University of Arizona connections, but for me the best way to honor our fallen is on the personal level. Share memories of a lost friend, find out about someone from your family who died serving our country, and remember those most affected by the loss. The families left behind.


Note: I separated the Memorial Day post from Day 96 just so the Mykee Irving posts wouldn't be permanently linked withe Memorial Day

[Merkin]

Great words Ang!




https://www.chatsports.com/arizona-wild ... y-11871130" target="_blank

Ted Bland, 1933-35
The Wildcats’ first-ever All-American quarterback, Bland brought big-name appeal to the Cats’ “Blue Brigade.” Bland’s teams go 19-7-1 in his three years as starter. In 1944, Bland was killed in France while fighting in World War II. He was 29.

Accomplishments:

• Named first-team All-Border Conference, 1933-35

• Named first team Little All-America, 1935

• Inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame inductee, 1980

Ralph Hunsaker, 1955-58
Accomplishments:

• Finished sixth nationally with 823 passing yards, 1956

• Finished second nationally with 1,129 passing yards, 1958

[scumdevils86]

Couple of memorials I wanted to share. First for my great uncle who was killed on the most famous submarine of WW2, the USS Wahoo.



And second my best friend's great uncle who was killed shortly after the fall of Rome in Italy not too far from where his own parents and grandparents emigrated from from. He served as a front line combat surgeon in the army.

[Chicat]

I always feel like those who came home from war, but somehow the war still took them (suicide, cancer, mental illness, etc) are the forgotten heroes on Memorial Day.

My thoughts go out to the families of those who survived the wars but eventually succumbed to them at home.

[Merkin]

If you watched the Ken Burn's series on WW2 many vets had no interest in fighting, but the peer pressure was extremely intense to join. My family was fortunate, my grandfathers were too old and my father too young. However my father in law served as a crewman on a B17 over Germany. He had so much stomach distress on those missions I don't think he finished his 25 missions and he went through to the VA hospital in Tucson for the rest of his long life.

I live about 20 miles from, Lompoc Scum. Probably a very nice little town then. The old downtown is really run down now though and the rest of the city is strip malls and chain stores. I used to go there a lot as it was the nearest recreational dispensary but now they deliver for free.

[scumdevils86]

I always feel like those who came home from war, but somehow the war still took them (suicide, cancer, mental illness, etc) are the forgotten heroes on Memorial Day.

My thoughts go out to the families of those who survived the wars but eventually succumbed to them at home.

Agreed. Many survivors would too but they'd not admit it. The ones with shattered minds and bodies are the prolonged sufferers. Not that it was good that those other guy's died.

Something I've almost never seen addressed is the prevalence 9f suicide of WW2 veterans in the late 40s/50s/60s. Yes most of them just came home and "got on with it" but so many were also swept under the rug.

[scumdevils86]

If you watched the Ken Burn's series on WW2 many vets had no interest in fighting, but the peer pressure was extremely intense to join. My family was fortunate, my grandfathers were too old and my father too young. However my father in law served as a crewman on a B17 over Germany. He had so much stomach distress on those missions I don't think he finished his 25 missions and he went through to the VA hospital in Tucson for the rest of his long life.

I live about 20 miles from, Lompoc Scum. Probably a very nice little town then. The old downtown is really run down now though and the rest of the city is strip malls and chain stores. I used to go there a lot as it was the nearest recreational dispensary but now they deliver for free.

I actually found a treasure trove of records and newspaper articles about my uncle, grandpa and other uncles. Their father died in 1940 and the oldest Roy joined the Navy right after Pearl Harbor and choose the submarine service for the extra pay to support their destitute widowed mother. In the summer of 1943 (3 months before my uncle died) my grandpa joined the Navy a week after his 17th birthday to join the submarines like his older brother and to help support the family. I can't even imagine what my great grandma thought when she got the news that her oldest son was missing in action and her next son was going off to do the same job. She likely signed the papers for him when he was underage to support the family. I wonder what guilt if any she lived with after that.

[UAEebs86]

Anyone else get annoyed when somebody posts something thanking all veterans on Memorial Day? That's what Veteran's Day is for, today is for the fallen.

One of my pet peeves. My dad and father-in-law were both vets, FIL was a medic who survived the Battle of the Bulge and got a Purple Heart after taking shrapnel at the taking of the Remagen bridge. Today is not their day, although my niece and SIL constantly get this wrong.