2018 Memorial Day

[powdahound76]

Taken from here years ago and used every year since.

A couple of the many I remember.

I never knew my grandpa, lung CA took him when I was 6 months old. Started smoking in boot camp in WWII.
Ran a flame thrower from just after DDay on through till he came home. Guess he told stories to my dad (his SIL) of the morphine pills the flame thrower guys got everyday to numb them from burning guys alive. He always had problems when he came home and I guess the fireworks on the 4th would make him shake and cry.

One of my good friends from the FD was on 2 tours on a medivac bird in Iraq as a crew chief in the National Guard. He never recovered from seeing so many guys his own age shot up so bad and dying in front of him and is still living in a bottle. He has had some great sober moments and always goes back so far.

These two guys came home and still paid the price, as many here know all about.

A heartfelt Thank You to each and everyone of you who ever served.

 

[Threadcutter308]

View attachment 6907009

Taken from here years ago and used every year since.

A couple of the many I remember.

I never knew my grandpa, lung CA took him when I was 6 months old. Started smoking in boot camp in WWII.
Ran a flame thrower from just after DDay on through till he came home. Guess he told stories to my dad (his SIL) of the morphine pills the flame thrower guys got everyday to numb them from burning guys alive. He always had problems when he came home and I guess the fireworks on the 4th would make him shake and cry.

One of my good friends from the FD was on 2 tours on a medivac bird in Iraq as a crew chief in the National Guard. He never recovered from seeing so many guys his own age shot up so bad and dying in front of him and is still living in a bottle. He has had some great sober moments and always goes back so far.

These two guys came home and still paid the price, as many here know all about.

A heartfelt Thank You to each and everyone of you who ever served.

Thanks Hound..............

 

[1J04]

Ya, it's a little more than just a day off ain't it. Thoughts n Prayers to those before and after us.

 

[Strykervet]

I put this up on here every Memorial Day, it's beautiful and he deserves not to be forgotten. We say, "gone but not forgotten" but all to often that's become cliché and the phrase is all that's not forgotten. This is a memorial for all days done by a guy I went to basic with who was with Solo when he got hit. SSG Juan M. Solorio was a fellow SDM instructor at the Stryker Bde. Advanced Infantry Skills Center, Ft. Lewis. Beyond being a killer shot and a great soldier, he cared about his guys and made sure they had all the training and equipment they needed. Above all, he was just a great guy who loved his children and his family. All he ever talked about. This man was a natural with irons and could shoot a stock M4 to damn near its limits out to 600m.

Warning: it's pretty moving.

 

[Threadcutter308]

I put this up on here every Memorial Day, it's beautiful and he deserves not to be forgotten. We say, "gone but not forgotten" but all to often that's become cliché and the phrase is all that's not forgotten. This is a memorial for all days done by a guy I went to basic with who was with Solo when he got hit. SSG Juan M. Solorio was a fellow SDM instructor at the Stryker Bde. Advanced Infantry Skills Center, Ft. Lewis. Beyond being a killer shot and a great soldier, he cared about his guys and made sure they had all the training and equipment they needed. Above all, he was just a great guy who loved his children and his family. All he ever talked about. This man was a natural with irons and could shoot a stock M4 to damn near its limits out to 600m.

Warning: it's pretty moving.

Superb post....Thanks Stryker! ?

 

[powdahound76]

Thanks Stryker, awesome post. The pictures are very powerful.

Another that is always in my heart is a kid I taught in vacation bible school when I was in high school.
Brandon Buttry PFC of the 1st Battalion 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division JBLM, Washington. He was in Kandahar Province on his first deployment at age 19, hit by Taliban rocket fire on Nov 5, 2012. He had finished boot camp in April of that year and deployed in July.
He was adopted into an amazing family as a 3 year old boy and was loved his whole life, he knew the Lord, and early on dreamed to be in the Army like his grandpa.

I posted about his funeral when he passed. The Patriot Guard showed up to block the Westboro Baptist nuts and were successful. There were 1700 extra flags lining the streets and the cemetery in a small Iowa farm town.

its kinda hard to type with blurry eyes........

 

[oneshot86]

that picture of the Marines son always breaks me up, caught me off guard

styrker set me up w the slam, got me good, great post, never forgotten

 

[Strykervet]

I'm bumping this up because I think it's still relevant.

Bio Siale, 3-21INF, 25thID

I'd also like to mention Bio Siale, a young man who signed up right after 9/11 to serve his country. He signed on 11B expecting to hunt Bin Laden, he knew what that blue cord meant and he wanted it. ~7', 240lbs, he was every inch the gentle giant and quickly adored by all. We had done a 12 mile forced march that day, where he also set the record and I bet it stands to this day, he came in just over an hour which is hauling ass with ruck and weapon. We all knew we had to stand on the parade field all day the next, so when he came around looking for people to go out with him that night, nobody wanted to go. A couple guys from the other platoons did, but left and he was there alone. He was killed outside a Tacoma club Spring 2002 after breaking up a fight. One guy got mad and shot Siale with a .22 and he took one directly to the heart and died almost right away, a perfect shot. The next day he was to be Color Guard in our reactivation ceremony but was reported as AWOL. Though he had just come to the unit, we all knew something was wrong because it wasn't like this guy, he just set the record for the 12 mile and knew he was carrying the US flag in the center of the ceremony. CO calls us together and mentions an unidentified body at the morgue had just been identified as Siale and those who were his close friends from basic lost it. The rest of us didn't know him that well, but what we did know of him was that he was an excellent young man and promising soldier and was cut down early before his potential was fully known. Right here at home. I remember the ceremony where they called roll and everyone answered and it got to him and they called it three times and silence, then taps. It was so sad. Still haven't forgotten you either, man.

MSG Brian Mack, 25thID, Chief of SBASC (Stryker Bde. Advanced infantry Skills Center) where I worked. He oversaw the SDM program along with pre sniper and pre ranger and other special duties like hosting companies, visitors, etc. Runner up for Best Ranger (year?). Loved his children. Was PSG for 3-21 scout platoon, replaced by SSG Juan Solorio, both KIA.

SGT Nathaniel Swindell, 1-24INF, 25thID, SDM graduate. Died from heart attack, only 24. He was another good kid, I remember him going through the class.

 

[MarinePMI]

For all his usual antics, Matt Best nailed it last year with this video...
Rest easy Brothers...you are not forgotten, on this day, or any day.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[sirhrmechanic]

A few lesser-known songs that seem worth listening to on Memorial Day....

 

[sirhrmechanic]

 

[sirhrmechanic]

 

[sirhrmechanic]

If anyone thinks it's a bit dusty in here after listening to those... you're not alone.

In memory,

Sirhr

 

[ArmyJerry]

Sometimes I ask myself if its worth it with the circus that has become our government.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

 

[Maser]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't need a special day to honor our fallen Heros. I do so everyday. I may be 28 years old, but I still say my prayers everynight the same way I did so as a little boy. I always ask God to watch over our soldiers and for those who don't have fate on their side, I ask that God make their transition from Earth to Heaven a smooth one. When you've never served a day in your life in any branch of the US Armed Forces like me, you have a great deal of appreciation to those who have served.

God bless all those who've fallen. You may physically be gone, but will NEVER be forgotten.

 

[powdahound76]

Thanks for all the amazing and inspiring additions fellas.
Maser, you have many good posts that challenge one’s thinking. This was one of your best. Amen.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Lot of things said about his boys... Some probably valid. But this former CinC.... had the right stuff from the time he was a teenager.

^^^ That's our future President in the raft...

He was a hell of a good CIA director, too...

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[ArmyJerry]

Globalist Blue blood, no use fr him or his kind.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

PADILLA, DAVID ESEQUIEL

Name: David Esequiel Padilla
Rank/Branch: E3/USMC
Unit: E Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 01 May 1947 (Santa Rosa NM)
Home City of Record: Borger TX
Date of Loss: 18 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163813N 1064116E (XD800400)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered

Padilla was a member of an 8 man recon patrol (code name Sky Merchant) that came under heavy counterrecon SAF, rocket, and mortar fire. The team was bracketed by enemy mortar fire while attempts were made to extract the patrol by helicopter. Padilla was hit by direct mortar fire and his rescuers were unable to locate any remains of the body and had to return to the rescue helicopter without him. Every member except one was either KIA or WIA and Padilla is the only one that did not make it on the helicopter.

 

[RNWRKNP]

I always get goose bumps when I hear the national anthem. You vet’s humble me in a way that I don’t have eloquent words to express my gratitude. To you vet’s present and past.....thank you?

 

[jrassy]

Globalist Blue blood, no use fr him or his kind.

Armyjerry why don't you just fuck the hell off, nerve wracking army leg, fuck you and the horse you rode in on.

 

[ArmyJerry]

I could, but then you would be happy.

Armyjerry why don't you just fuck the hell off, nerve wracking army leg, fuck you and the horse you rode in on.

 

[jrassy]

Lol, I'll drink to that

 

[ArmyJerry]

enjoy it man, enjoy it. lifes too short

 

[EddieNFL]

 

[jrassy]

I got to say I am full of melancholy on this day and more than a few beers because I drink today in respect for so many that can't. I have so many brothers that would do the same for me but can't. Army and Marine, it is a powerful feeling which sharpens my outlook every year, nuff said, carry on.