Comments on: Memorial Day

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 30 May 2011 20:12:40 +0000

Before I forget Bobby, your great-uncle and my Dad were at Kadena at the same time. Unless your great-uncle was part of the 19th Medium Bomb Group or Wing they wouldn’t have met, because my Dad was part of the guided weapons program, and everything was restricted. However, since he was an engineer and was involved in anti-aircraft defense, it is very possible he was part of that effort to blow up the bridges over the Yalu River between Korea and China. The bridges were down in valleys and they only wanted the Korean sides damaged while both sides were fighting at the bombers, so it involved some serious problems.

The concept is called public service, which is what you do if you really believe in the concept of society, and it doesn’t have to involve the military. My older brother was in the Peace Corp. A great-uncle built schools working for the WPA.

It doesn’t even have to include government service. My great grandmother was Pearl Chapman before she married Alfred Mullen, and she was a great grandniece of John Chapman, who wandered into Ohio from New York, planting apple seeds as he saw the new country. He didn’t see much of a future working on the canal boats like the rest of the Chapmans, and wanted to see what things looked like beyond Buffalo. They grow good apples in New York, so he thought he would share [or he got lost again, which is the official version among some Chapmans]. “Johnny Appleseed” is the best known of the New York Chapmans, which many of the hard-working Chapmans don’t appreciate much.

Memorial Day should be about all of those who went before us and made our lives better, no matter how they did it.

By: cookiejill

cookiejill — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:57:16 +0000

Thank you for your and your families service to our country, Bryan.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us via your blog.
Thank you for keep pointing out that certain emperors don’t have clothes.

By: ellroon

ellroon — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:42:47 +0000

What Steve and Mustang Bobby said, Bryan. Thank you for your post, your blog, and your service.

By: Mustang Bobby

Mustang Bobby — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:43:28 +0000

I am remembering my great-uncle who came ashore at Omaha Beach, won a Bronze Star, and served until he died from cancer six months before I was born. I wish I had known him.

Thank you, Bryan, for remembering and reminding us, and for serving.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Mon, 30 May 2011 13:37:10 +0000

Thank you, Bryan, for your service to America, and for the service of your forebears. And thank you for your common sense about the whole tragic business of war.