[at-l] Memorial Day Weekend

[WHHAWKINS@aol.com (WHHAWKINS@aol.com)]

Going to spend it remembering friends who are no longer alive. A lot died so 
young. Defending the Country. For me it is a day to honor all our veterans: 

Wildbill
 
 THE THINGS THEY CARRIED
 
 They carried P-38 can openers and heat tabs, watches and dog
 tags, insect repellent, gum, cigarettes, Zippo lighters, salt
 tablets, compress bandages, ponchos, Kool-Aid, two or three
 canteens of water, iodine tablets, sterno, LRRP-rations, and
 C-rations stuffed in socks. They carried standard fatigues,
 jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets, and steel pots. They
 carried the M-16 assault rifle. They carried trip flares and
 Claymore mines, M-60 machine guns, the M-70 grenade launcher,
 M-14's, CR-15s, Stoners, Swedish K's, 66 mm Laws, shotguns, 45 caliber
 pistols, silencers, the sound of bullets, rockets,
 and choppers, and sometimes the sound of silence. They carried
 C-4 plastic explosives, an assortment of hand grenades, PRC-25
 radios, knives and machetes.
 Some carried napalm, CBU's, and large bombs; some risked their
 lives to rescue others. Some escaped the fear, but dealt
 with the death and damages. Some made very hard decisions,
 and some just tried to survive.
 They carried malaria, dysentery, ringworm's, and leaches. They
 carried the land itself as it hardened on their boots. They
 carried stationery, pencils, and pictures of their loved ones
 real and imagined. They carried love for people in the real
 world, and love for one another. And sometimes they disguised
 that love: "Don't mean nothin'!"
 
 They carried memories!
 
 For the most part, they carried themselves with poise and a
 kind of dignity. Now and then, there were times when panic
 set in, and people squealed, or wanted to, but couldn't; when
 they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads
 and said, "Dear God," and hugged the earth and fired their
 weapons blindly, and cringed and begged for the noise to stop,
 and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and God
 and their parents, hoping not to die. They carried the
 traditions of the United States military, and memories and
 images of those who served before them. They carried grief,
 terror, longing, and their reputations.
 
 They carried the soldier's greatest fear, the embarrassment
 of dishonor. They crawled into tunnels, walked point, and
 advanced or flew into fire, so as not to die of embarrassment.
 They were afraid of dying, but too afraid to show it. They
 carried the emotional baggage of men and women who might die
 at any moment. They carried the weight of the world, and
 the weight of every free citizen of America.
 
 THEY CARRIED EACH OTHER.
 
 Author Unknown
 ~~~~~
 Let us remember them this Memorial Day, May 28, 2001.
 
 Because We can Never Forget!



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