Why There Is a Memorial Day
So we remember. So we thank them all. We are so grateful for brave New Englanders in the fields at Lexington and Concord before we ever were THIS United States. So grateful for the courage of our fathers and grandfathers, and for this new generation of lads and lassies who step into uniform freely for US ~ begin the cycle of sacrifice anew. And go so bravely into the most horrific of places, unimaginable to the oblivious hoards of beachgoers and bargain shoppers on this somber red, white and blue weekend. We are so grateful and our hearts weep for them all ~ for the unimaginable, inconsolable loss of a husband, a treasured daughter…a baby boy born on the Fourth of July.
Marine Cpl. Jacob C. Leicht didn’t survive his second encounter with a bomb this week. The death of the 24-year-old Texan born on the Fourth of July marks a grim milestone in the Afghanistan war.
Leicht, who spent two painful years recovering from the Iraq blast, was killed Thursday when he stepped on a land mine in Helmand province that ripped off his right arm. He had written letters from his hospital bed begging to be put back on the front lines, and died less than a month into that desperately sought second tour.
…“He said he always wanted to die for his country and be remembered,” said Jesse Leicht, his younger brother. “He didn’t want to die having a heart attack or just being an old man. He wanted to die for something.”
Semper Fidelis.
Oh, my God, how you lived that, Marine!
And we WILL remember, dearest Corporal, what you and so many others have given so willingly for us. Your sacrifice has been beyond measure and we can strive only to be forever worthy of it. We remember and our hearts are full.
Military Thingies | tree hugging sister | 
May 30, 2010 11:17 pm
Subscribe
Today is not the day to dispute or argue,it is the day to honor and bow to those patriots who died to make us free.
thank you, my dear dead
patriot,I’m not worthy to
shine your shoes..
It seems strange to put these men we don’t know on such pedestals. Some were good people. Others were not. Some had politics that I disagreed with and others were bullies or snored. Some were smart and some had no idea what they were doing and were terrible at soldiering.
But no characteristic matters except that they were killed by one of our enemies. As a matter of policy and civilized human decency we must remember them and laud them because we put them in the position to be killed. That is part of our debt to them.
I don’t much like when people wax on about how they sacrificed their lives. I don’t think any if them wanted to die. Their lives were taken by the enemy. To justify their loss we must do all we can to win the war and preserve or restore the culture of freedom in our nation.
Favorite musical. FAVORITE. Love that song. I’ve watched the DVD a million times and seen the play performed at least 10 times.
You’re exactly right, Skyler ~ part of our debt to them. And wouldn’t it be lovely if your last sentence was the overriding concern of any adminstration who sends our troops in harms way ~ make the commitment to victory at the start.
I don’t see them on pedestals (unless, obviously, they died saving someone) so much as honoring their service and WILLINGNESS to be in the line of fire by learning something about them. By saying their names in our heads and hearts, where, otherwise, no one but their families would share the sadness that truly should belong to us all.
Because everyone in OUR uniforms belongs to us all.
Same for me, sheri. Unbelievably uplifting patriotic experience and damn snappy, too. Plus, it makes me bawl like a baby. (I always try to put the signing scene up on the Fourth.)
“We remember and our hearts are full.”
Amen.
No one wants to die,but they paid the price.It takes someone to assure survival of the rest.