++++++++++++++++++++++
NO, FREEDOM ISN'T FREE
(Author Unknown)
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down? How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.
I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.
....................................
Memorial Day is much more than a three-day weekend that marks the beginning of summer. To many people, especially the nation's thousands of combat veterans, this day, which has a history stretching back all the way to the Civil War, is an important reminder of those who died in the service of their country.
Check out this site for a short history of the day.
http://dcpages.com/Tourism/Memorial_Day/History/memdayhistory.shtml
This one is the original order General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868
http://www.usmemorialday.org/order11.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FAMILIES
It is still an ongoing task to try to locate the Families of those who where killed or lost their lives on all three Towers. The most recent family found was the wife of A/2c Leland H. Jones A/1c. Larry V. Wolford's family was found in Houston, Texas.
The total dead on all Towers, 2,3 and #4 amounted to 32, both U.S.A.F. and Civilian workers. We have found a total of 26 families and presented them with Memorial Flags. So there are only six more families to find out of 32. We will not stop the search until it is completed.
++++++++++++++++++++
NOTES:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has recently established an excellent on-line nationwide gravesite
locator. The nationwide grave locator contains more than three million records of veterans and dependents
buried in VA's 120 cemeteries since the Civil War. It also has records of some burials in state veterans'
cemeteries and burials in Arlington National Cemetery from 1999 to the present. You can access it at
"www.cem.va.gov". Click on "National gravesite
locator."
......
Don't forget the possibilities of space available travel open now in CONUS to dependents of retirees if travelling with their sponsors.
.............
CAN YOU HELP?
The Association has had inquiries about two officers attached to the 4604th or to a Tower. The whereabouts
of the family or any news of Major William R Sheppard is desired and if anyone remembers Capt Reginald Stark
when he was doing his Tower tour (as opposed to on the beach) his family would like to hear from them.
If you have any news on those two men, a reply to this email would be much appreciated