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MEMORIAL DAY:"Just A Common Soldier" - http://justacommonsoldier.com/ Hard to find a more powerful tribute to those in our military - present and veterans. Be sure to take the 5 minutes to view this video and share it. (Spoiler alert: If you're a politician, this will be humbling.) P.S. - I hope you made time to watch the PBS Memorial Day special last night. In case you missed it please go to > htp://www.pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert/videos/ Take a moment to esp. view the stories of 1) the two Gold Star children whose father was killed while serving in Iraq, and 2) disabled veteran Romy Camargo and his wife Gaby turned tragedy into a love story. Awesome tear-jerking reminders of why we have Memorial Day.
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"THIS WORLD WAR II SOLDIER'S STORY REMINDS US OF WHY MEMORIAL DAY MATTERS" - James Carafano / @JJCarafano / May 25, 2015 /http://dailysignal.com/2015/05/25/this-soldiers-story-reminds-us-of-why-memorial-day-matters/ [AS I SEE IT: I heard a brief mention of this story months ago at the end of a TV news segment. It moved me to begin praying daily for the "POW-MIA" office of the military. Of all the departments of the military, it seems to me that this office should have a sense of urgency to return/identify and bring closure for the families of those of our military. As the follow-up story briefly noted after this one states, "the process of finding the remains of those who are missing in action 'hasn’t kept up with modern technology.'” It goes on to call the failure to do their work in a timely way a case of "inefficiency." I could not agree more. I believe that every Memorial Day and Veterans' Day, the POW-MIA office should be required (held accountable) to report on what they have accomplished and why their efforts are slowed. Also, more effort should be made to identify those of the wars of our most distant past. (For example, more effort should be made to identify soldiers of World War II, then those of the Korean War, the Vietnam War, etc.) The goal of the office should be to put itself out of business (to be able to lower the flag representing the office) as soon as possible. When we consider the increasing technology available for such work, making the families of POWS or the missing wait - in this case 70 years! - is inexcusable! - Stan]
Arlington National Cemetery. (Photo: Ryzner Zdenek/ZUMA Press/Newscom)
If any day is more than just a day, then Memorial Day is it. Sometimes remembering just one soldier reminds us why.
His name was Lawrence Gordon. He grew-up on a hard-scrabble farm in Canada. After Pearl Harbor, he decided to join the American Army. The Americans had better “kit.”
The Army sent Gordon into the center of the storm, as the allies battled from the beaches of Normandy breaking through the German defenses and then racing to encircle the enemy as it withdrew from France.
Gordon was on the sharp edge of the bayonet. His cavalry unit, in thinly skinned armored vehicles, was dispatched way to the front or the flanks to find the enemy before the more heavily armored columns were called up to engage. Sometimes “finding” the enemy started with a wild exchange of gunfire or the unexpected burst of mortar rounds. Patrols could go from tense silence to vicious firefights in seconds. Gordon’s letters home to the family and his girl kept up their spirits with assurances he was safe and surrounded by dependable comrades and delivered a travelogue of his little unit’s march across France.
One day the letters stopped.
The family received a partially burned wallet. They knew it was his. The picture of his girl was singed but still recognizable. But other than a few personal effects, there was no explanation of what had happened to Lawrence Gordon—and no body. He was missing in action—and would remain so for almost 70 years.
A documentary, “Honoring a Commitment,” by a young filmmaker named Jeb Henry, tells the extraordinary story of how his loved ones found Private Gordon and brought him home. The new film, recently screened at The Heritage Foundation in partnership with National Review, is part detective story and part love story, a journey of a family’s determined unrelenting effort to find and honor a brave man.
Remembering Private Gordon is important for all of us. Any remembrance of war that doesn’t include the telling of individual stories lessens the purpose of the day–and why it is important that we remember.
Sometimes the enormity of war overwhelms the truth that all great struggles are just the sum of individual stories. Each is more than just the story of one soldier’s service and sacrifice. Their service ripples across their families, friends and their communities. Memorial Day reminds us it is the noble sacrifice of many that makes us who we are.
Every soldier’s story of World War II is worth telling. Every story of every soldier in every war has value. Every generation of American soldiers is the greatest generation. What is most extraordinary about the extraordinary story of Private Gordon and his extraordinary family is that it is singularly representative of what the fight for freedom and the eternal struggle for the preservation of liberty really means.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
James Jay Carafano, a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges, is The Heritage Foundation’s Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, E. W. Richardson Fellow, and Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies. Read his research.
"‘Honoring a Commitment:’ Soldier’s Remains Found After 70 Years" - Kate Scanlon / @scanlon_kate / May 20, 2015 / http://dailysignal.com/2015/05/20/honoring-a-commitment-soldiers-remains-found-after-70-years/
"...After he was killed, Gordon was misidentified as a German, and was laid to rest in a French cemetery for German soldiers. French authorities performed a DNA test. Gordon had been found.
MEMORIAL DAY:"Just A Common Soldier" - http://justacommonsoldier.com/ Hard to find a more powerful tribute to those in our military - present and veterans. Be sure to take the 5 minutes to view this video and share it. (Spoiler alert: If you're a politician, this will be humbling.) P.S. - I hope you made time to watch the PBS Memorial Day special last night. In case you missed it please go to > htp://www.pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert/videos/ Take a moment to esp. view the stories of 1) the two Gold Star children whose father was killed while serving in Iraq, and 2) disabled veteran Romy Camargo and his wife Gaby turned tragedy into a love story. Awesome tear-jerking reminders of why we have Memorial Day.
P.S.- Also worth your time is the following tribute by Casting Crowns:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbRGksthTHQ&feature=share
"A veteran is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount up to and including their life."
"THIS WORLD WAR II SOLDIER'S STORY REMINDS US OF WHY MEMORIAL DAY MATTERS" - James Carafano / @JJCarafano / May 25, 2015 /http://dailysignal.com/2015/05/25/this-soldiers-story-reminds-us-of-why-memorial-day-matters/ [AS I SEE IT: I heard a brief mention of this story months ago at the end of a TV news segment. It moved me to begin praying daily for the "POW-MIA" office of the military. Of all the departments of the military, it seems to me that this office should have a sense of urgency to return/identify and bring closure for the families of those of our military. As the follow-up story briefly noted after this one states, "the process of finding the remains of those who are missing in action 'hasn’t kept up with modern technology.'” It goes on to call the failure to do their work in a timely way a case of "inefficiency." I could not agree more. I believe that every Memorial Day and Veterans' Day, the POW-MIA office should be required (held accountable) to report on what they have accomplished and why their efforts are slowed. Also, more effort should be made to identify those of the wars of our most distant past. (For example, more effort should be made to identify soldiers of World War II, then those of the Korean War, the Vietnam War, etc.) The goal of the office should be to put itself out of business (to be able to lower the flag representing the office) as soon as possible. When we consider the increasing technology available for such work, making the families of POWS or the missing wait - in this case 70 years! - is inexcusable! - Stan]
Arlington National Cemetery. (Photo: Ryzner Zdenek/ZUMA Press/Newscom)
If any day is more than just a day, then Memorial Day is it. Sometimes remembering just one soldier reminds us why.
His name was Lawrence Gordon. He grew-up on a hard-scrabble farm in Canada. After Pearl Harbor, he decided to join the American Army. The Americans had better “kit.”
The Army sent Gordon into the center of the storm, as the allies battled from the beaches of Normandy breaking through the German defenses and then racing to encircle the enemy as it withdrew from France.
Gordon was on the sharp edge of the bayonet. His cavalry unit, in thinly skinned armored vehicles, was dispatched way to the front or the flanks to find the enemy before the more heavily armored columns were called up to engage. Sometimes “finding” the enemy started with a wild exchange of gunfire or the unexpected burst of mortar rounds. Patrols could go from tense silence to vicious firefights in seconds. Gordon’s letters home to the family and his girl kept up their spirits with assurances he was safe and surrounded by dependable comrades and delivered a travelogue of his little unit’s march across France.
One day the letters stopped.
The family received a partially burned wallet. They knew it was his. The picture of his girl was singed but still recognizable. But other than a few personal effects, there was no explanation of what had happened to Lawrence Gordon—and no body. He was missing in action—and would remain so for almost 70 years.
A documentary, “Honoring a Commitment,” by a young filmmaker named Jeb Henry, tells the extraordinary story of how his loved ones found Private Gordon and brought him home. The new film, recently screened at The Heritage Foundation in partnership with National Review, is part detective story and part love story, a journey of a family’s determined unrelenting effort to find and honor a brave man.
Remembering Private Gordon is important for all of us. Any remembrance of war that doesn’t include the telling of individual stories lessens the purpose of the day–and why it is important that we remember.
Sometimes the enormity of war overwhelms the truth that all great struggles are just the sum of individual stories. Each is more than just the story of one soldier’s service and sacrifice. Their service ripples across their families, friends and their communities. Memorial Day reminds us it is the noble sacrifice of many that makes us who we are.
Every soldier’s story of World War II is worth telling. Every story of every soldier in every war has value. Every generation of American soldiers is the greatest generation. What is most extraordinary about the extraordinary story of Private Gordon and his extraordinary family is that it is singularly representative of what the fight for freedom and the eternal struggle for the preservation of liberty really means.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
James Jay Carafano, a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges, is The Heritage Foundation’s Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, E. W. Richardson Fellow, and Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies. Read his research.
"‘Honoring a Commitment:’ Soldier’s Remains Found After 70 Years" - Kate Scanlon / @scanlon_kate / May 20, 2015 / http://dailysignal.com/2015/05/20/honoring-a-commitment-soldiers-remains-found-after-70-years/
"...After he was killed, Gordon was misidentified as a German, and was laid to rest in a French cemetery for German soldiers. French authorities performed a DNA test. Gordon had been found.
Henry [his grandson] said that Gordon’s story is “a case study,” showing that the process of finding the remains of those who are missing in action “hasn’t kept up with modern technology.” He said that he hopes that the film [a video about the incident that Henry had made] “sheds light on the MIA community.” “I hope it opens people’s eyes to the inefficiency,” said Henry. “I don’t think we’re fulfilling the promise to bring everyone home.” [bold and italics emphasis mine]
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