MEMORIAL DAY...

THE WEEK-END IS HERE. 

Memorial Day on Monday.

My cousin went to Viet Nam in 1969 being killed when his wife was 4 months pregnant.  A National Guardsman called to active duty.  22 years and 5 months of age when he was killed in the line of active duty in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam.

This photo was the one the LIFE magazine used in an article about those killed in Vietnam.  The picture of his face was the last one printed on the page of many that perished in one week.

Each year about this time I think about him.  He passed away 56 years ago May 23rd and it seems like it was yesterday.

A small town guy willing to serve his country.  Like so many others, he did not come HOME alive.  He left behind a loving wife that was carrying their child, grieving parents, a big brother, little sister and a long list of relatives that loved him.

58,220 U.S. soldiers perished.

Remembering when my Dad received a phone call from his sister telling him that Bob was missing in action.  A few days later, we'd be informed about his death with plans for a funeral to attend.  After that phone call came, I climbed on my bike and rode it around my neighborhood thinking about his death and also my best friend's Dad's death.  I had come home from my friend's Dad's funeral that day who died from cancer to find out that Bob had died.

I was young and death wasn't thought about very much.  It was an oddity to me which I have had to deal with in the real world of life.

At this point in time, all of my Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, my Father, a brother, my in-laws, a brother-in-law, a few cousins, old teachers, neighbors, Business acquaintances, quite a few friends and acquaintances have passed away.

THOSE THAT SERVED IN THE MILITARY WILL BE THOUGHT OF along with so many others that once lived and died.

Graves will be decorated.  Taps will be played.  Flags will fly and flap in the wind.  Memories will resurface.  Thoughts of days gone by will take place.

~d