Memorial Day


  Half-Mast 
  Originally uploaded by Tom Rydquist.

It’s worth remembering that today is a national holiday because on this day our country remembers soliders who have died in service to our country.

Some of you will visit cemeteries or watch memorial day parades. Others will celebrate the day with picnics or outings or sporting events.

But no matter how you celebrate memorial day, make sure to spend a minute or two thinking about the sacrifices that military men and women have made and continue to make.

Having grown up in a military family, I have come to believe that military service is a calling, like the clergy or public service. It’s a hard way to live your life, but thank god that so many choose it.

And speaking of military life, here’s a neat example of two women who met on twitter who have teamed up to deliver a service to families separated by military service.

#Random Posts

Comments (Archived):

  1. Andrew McMillen

    My thoughts from Brisbane, Australia are with military families based not only in the USA, but across the globe. Take care.

  2. Dominic

    Great post…These brave men and women deserve our attention and respect.ThanksDominic

  3. MikeChapman

    Great post. Having had the opportunity to meet and work with Aruni and Trish I can attest that you couldn’t have picked two more worthy people to mention here. I’m a military family member myself and a member of eMail Our Military. I salute Babble Soft, eMom, and you for directing your attention to our fallen veterans, retired veterans who are still alive, and all of our men and women still serving today.

  4. simplyRik

    It is good to see others comment on Memorial Day. For me it is a day of reflection of my own service and that of my father, both in the U.S. Marines. I was working on my own Memorial Day post today and decided to resurrect all of my posts about my own time in the Marines. Sometimes we all loose sight of those Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen/women and Marines who are unable to take time today to honor themselves because they are too busy doing what this nation asks of them.

  5. Jon B

    “…make sure to spend a minute or two thinking about the sacrifices that military men and women have made and continue to make.”Like the kind of sacrifice American military have been making in Iraq? i.e. killing Iraqi civilians and displacing millions of them.No, I couldn’t care less about them.You want to do something meaninful? lobby hard to reduce the influence of the all american all nasty military industrial complexes. Until then, I couldn’t care less about the military men/women.

    1. fredwilson

      Don’t confuse the men who take orders and the men who give them

      1. Jon B

        No confusion there.I cannot possibly have respect for folks who sign up to kill, torture, rape innocent people. That’s the very offcial job description for American forces. (A quick review what American forces have done since World War II will suffice to prove my argument)Supposedly these folks are humans not robots. THEY have accepted the job description.No I couldn’t care less for them, for their children and for their families.

    2. Mo

      Bravo! I am glad all the sacrifices men and women of our military have made to allow a person like you to freely voice your opinion. I suppose in your pea sized brain Memorial Day only applies to the Iraq War. Give yourself a pat on the back for standing up against the tyrants.

      1. Jon B

        Wow your ignorance in history is astounding!It’s not just Iraq my easily manipulated friend. How about Vietnam? how about Korea? Lebanon in the 80s? marines in Africa?You are a perfect example of failure of education in this country.I couldn’t care less for our mostly criminal servicemen.

    3. cleveridea

      I wanted to write something thorough and distinct in response to this tripe, but I’ve decided to just let Jon know that I hope he and his family burns in a hell that could have been prevented by someone defending him from the evil in this world.

      1. Jon B

        “….prevented by someone defending him from the evil in this world.”Another case of successful indoctrination by the US education system.

  6. Timothy

    Thanks Fred.

    1. Steven Kane

      ooops, got the URL worng for spirit of america. itshttp://www.spiritofamerica.net

    2. fredwilson

      Thanks Steve. Good causes for sure

  8. gregory

    too bad the ego and ignorance of american leaders has killed so many many people in the last 60 years. dumbest, most militarized and aggressive country in the world, with an immaturity that persistently astounds the rest of the world. who will happily take its money..so sure, here’s to the soldiers. i was one. but don’t let sentiment and propaganda blind you. korea/vietnam/lebanon/haiti/panama/domrep/afghanistan/iraq/i don’t know how many others. not to mention destabilization efforts in many places. lot of blood on our hands, far more than the media care to talk about

  9. Aruni S. Gunasegaram

    Thanks Fred for mentioning our partnership with http://www.eMailOurMilitary.com! I think what they are doing by pairing civilians with active duty military personnel to exchange emails is great. I’m sure for those far from home getting email correspondence from people who support them or even share daily trivia of what’s going on at home can be morale boosting. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be away from home and not have some ties through email, letters, packages, etc. back to what used to be their reality. Knowing someone would take the time to connect with them using this amazing invention called the Internet probably means a lot to these often young military personnel. Trish has done a fabulous job bridging the gap, and I hope more people learn about the service she has almost single handedly brought to life. Happy Memorial Day Fred!

  10. Trish

    Thank you so much for spotlighting eMail Our Military’s (http://www.eMailOurMilitary…) collaboration with Babble Soft (http://www.BabbleSoft.com). Twitter has been such a great connector for us and we’re so pleased to have been able to meet Aruni and work together with her to provide this great opportunity to military families with newborns. Memorial Day is a holiday close to our hearts. My husband is a military service member, my father served as well so today, we’ll honor and remember those who paid the ultimate price for freedom.In response to those leaving negative comments, I’ll quote one of our guest writer’s today:”I’ve heard comments like “well they signed up for it.” Yes, they did, and that’s the point. They signed up for it knowing war was a possibility, some even signed up with the express purpose of going to war beside their brothers in arms. And if they’re on their fourth or fifth tour, they’ve had to make the choice to re-up, to sign themselves up for yet another round of deployments. They could’ve made the choice to say “no more”, but who would go in their place? Would you? Would you send your children instead? Your spouse? Your siblings? If they don’t go, who will?”Who will indeed?