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6/6/2008
Brave heroes
On the anniversary of D-Day, as the community revels in the proud return of the 395th, I am unspeakably thankful to those who protect our borders, our skies and our freedoms around the world. Thank you to all who serve and to all who have served before them. I am deeply and profoundly grateful to you who have sacrificed your loved ones to the cause of our freedom. We citizens of America are forever in your debt. Seeing those proud soldiers of the 395th march off the bus, proud and strong, I reminisced, as I have before, about my dad's proud service.
From a news article, most likely appearing in the Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, 1945:
Headquarters, 18th Air Force, Philippines – Two Fond du Lac airmen were among the seven “Fighting Cocks P-38 Lightning pilots who downed two Jap planes over Singapore in the second strike within 10 days against a target previously out of range for land-based fighters before the war ended.
First Lieuts. Albert J. Meuendyke and Wilfred A. Pagel were chosen to make this historic mission under the leadership of Capt. George T. Dubis, veteran Michigan pilot of the Sunbusters group.
Staging through an auxiliary field, they flew their Philippine-based fighters a total of 2,400 miles, much of the grueling flight over little-know waters of the South China sea, to powerful enemy held Singapore.
The mission was flown most of the way under. extremely adverse weather conditions and toward the end every pilot was sweating out a falling gas gauge….
And from a letter from General George C. Kenney, U.S. Army, July 20, 1945:
Dear Mrs. Meulendyke:
Recently your son, Lieutenant Albert J. Meulendyke, was decorated with the Air Medal. It was an award made in recognition of courageous service to his combat organization, his fellow American airmen, his country, his home and to you.
Your son was cited for meritorious achievement while participating in sustained operational flight missions in the Southwest Pacific Area … during which hostile contact was probable and expected…. In the course of these operations, strafing and bombing attacks were made from dangerously low altitudes, destroying and damaging enemy installations and equipment.
Almost every hour of every day your son, and the sons of other American mothers, are doing just such things as that here in the Southwest Pacific.Theirs is a very real and very tangible contribution to victory and to peace….
I love you dad. I’m so very proud of and grateful for your brave service to our country.
COMMENTS
Thanks for reminding me how important and special today is. On June 6, 1944 my father-in-law drove infantry to the beaches in a landing craft. Very brave young men.
Dale (Mon May 28 06:53:00 2007)
I to would like to give THANKS to all Veterans and our troops of today. THANK-YOU
Also like Jo Egelhoff who is giving Thanks to her DAD. I want to give THANKS to my DAD. For he did not go to war overseas. He and countless of others stayed home to build the planes,tanks,submarines,ships and all the other equipment. THANK-YOU DAD THANK-YOU THANK-YOU THANK-YOU THANK-YOU
Robert Hollen (Mon May 28 08:17:16 2007)
Senator Zell Miller said it best. "It's the soldier that gave us our freedom".
The war in Iraq, to say the least, is controversial. We constantly hear politicians and media pundits call for troop redeployment. That's code for "cut and run". On the other hand when our military leaders and troops in Iraq are interviewed the vast majority want to finish the job. All they ask for is our support, supplies, and equipment.
The question becomes: Whom should the public listen to, the politicians, the media, or the military personel in Iraq?
The answer should be obvious: The soldier gave us our freedom and the soldier will maintain our freedom if we just get out of their face and let them.
Russ (Mon May 28 08:56:28 2007)
My tribute to my dad might be somewhat unique, for I thank him for having served in both the U.S.Navy and the U.S. Army.
Graduating from high school (in 1924) at age 16, he lied about his age and joined the Navy. Many years later, he wanted to enroll in officer's school, but was told that he was too old. So he quit the Navy and enrolled in the Army under his true age, went to officer's school, and ended up as a lieutenant colonel at the end of World War II. He's been gone a long time, and his seven kids plan on celebrating his 100th birthday later this year.
Michael (Mon May 28 09:48:21 2007)
That our fighting military should have to worry they may be stabbed in the back by our civilians and politicians is not to be borne. I said the same thing during the Viet Nam War. Those who clamor for "peace" have no idea of what peace is. Peace is not just the absence of war in which one side fights against the other.
We had a so-called peace in which we sat by and allowed our military, embassies and civilians to be attacked and murdered by Islamic fascists with almost no retribution. That isn't peace, it's simply allowing your people to be attacked by enemies at will.
I never thought I'd see the time when this would happen to the United States. It makes me heartsick.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I do wish to remember my uncles who all fought in WWII:
Don Ames - Army
Bob Ames - Army
Leo Ames - Army - 10th Mountain Div.
Lloyd Huff - Navy - Seabees
They're all dead now except the youngest, Uncle Leo. They responded when their country called and these citizen soldiers acquitted themselves well and bravely.
I salute them and all our military, past and present.
C.R. Stevenson (Mon May 28 15:30:08 2007)
Thank you, Jo for reminding me of what both my grandfathers did for this country, for me.
Henry Lorge, 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles"
Kenneth Roberts, US Navy, fought on a submarine in the Pacific.
Thank you.
J. Roberts (Fri Jun 06 08:22:24 2008)
I would like to salute Clyde Stevenson along with my brothers,Ray, Ken & Orv who served in WW2 and all servicemen present and past for their contribution in making the world a safer place.
Gerry Romenesko (Fri Jun 06 10:18:46 2008)
I am proud to add my father whose platoon was captured by the Japanese but subsequently killed their captors and secured their freedom.
Dad was reluctant to recount the story since it required killing his captors whose mistake was to respond to their starvation from supplies; tis was an obviously tragic yet necessay sequence of events.
Dad's story and the effects of malaria were a sad but important circumstance of the fight for freedom. Like the volunteer forces currently engaged in this country's freedom, Dad and his mates did not question their duty.
These were men and women commited to protect this nation, many of whom had second thoughts yet found the courage and determination to achieve this Nation's charge to protect our precious Liberty.
An enormous debt of gratitude is owed, but the more liberal faction to this blog seem to be remiss in their acknowledgment.
Richard Parins (Sat Jun 07 22:38:07 2008)
Memorial Day, the return of the 395th, and the anniversary of D-Day are just past, and Flag Day is next week. This is a time to be thinking about what our flag stands for and to honor those who have served and sacrificed for our country.
It's not about which wars we should fight, which is a legitimate question for all of us, not just the military, or whether we are liberal or conservative, but it's about honoring those who serve and have served and sacrificed, regardless of our -- or their -- viewpoints. I may have opposed the war in Vietnam, but I will always applaud the vets of that war.
I remember and thank:
- Robert Dawson, my father, Army Air Corps, WW II, whose non-combat service injuries bothered him throughout his life and contributed to his death in 2006
- Donald Dawson, my uncle, USMC, KIA in the Solomon Islands, WW II
- Glenn Dawson, my uncle, merchant marine & USN WW II
- W. Robert Schmidt, my father-in-law, USN Corpsman, WW II, served on Iwo Jima
- Dennis Schmidt, my wife's brother, USN, KIA, Vietnam
- Kent Cunningham, my friend, USN Corpsman, KIA Vietnam
- other friends too numerous to name who served in Vietnam
- Cole Wenger Marsh, my friend and former student, currently serving in Afghanistan
Terry Dawson (Tue Jun 10 09:21:18 2008)
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