Marine Corps Moms: Honoring their sacrifice

« Memorial Day message from Brigadier General J.M. Paxton Jr | Main | Support our Severely Injured Troops »

May 30, 2005

Honoring their sacrifice

Families all over the country are celebrating Memorial Day with cookouts, picnics, and by relaxing at home, secure in the knowledge that they need not fear IEDs, suicide bombers, or other terrorist attacks in their peaceful neighborhoods. Marine families with deployed sons, daughters, husbands, and wives have a new way of looking at this year old day of remembrance.

Last week, Diana Rowe-Pauls sent a picture of her brother, Captain Alan Rowe who was killed by an IED in the Al Anbar province of Iraq last year, reminding us that her brother was more than just another number. He was born on October 3, 1968 and as a young boy spent long days playing with Diana in the Idaho countryside. He played dress up in his dad's Air Force uniform and grew up to wear his own uniform - that of a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Diana said in a Twin Falls Times-News story today that:

"Our losses in Iraq are human beings who are fathers and brothers and children and friends who are loved by many. They're not just statistics."

And Captain Rowe's widow Dawn who is raising his two children as a single parent reminds us that:

They joined of their own free will. They would never want their deaths to be thought of in vain. They would want their lives to be remembered as dying willingly for their country. They were proud to serve their country.

Marine Mom Tammie Green, whose son is currently deployed in the same place where Captain Rowe was killed last September, observed:

In a few days I'll be 45 years old ... and for 44 of those years Memorial Day was the chance for a long weekend and a cookout with a short glimpse at a flag and a bare acknowledgement of the meaning for that holiday. This year I don't think we will even have a cookout because somehow celebrating a well-cooked burger just doesn't seem appropriate.
For 200+ years young men (and women) have died in service to our country. Some served with pride and honor, some went kicking and screaming, some volunteered, some were drafted. Regardless of their motivation for service, in the end their service has always been at the mercy and judgement of the leadership of our country ... some good and some bad. These service people did not make policy, they simply did their jobs. William Westmoreland (general from Vietnam) once said "The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars."

So regardless of your views on this war, this weekend I ask that you take just 5 minutes and honor in some small way the sacrifice of those who have lost their lives in service. Bow your head and remember those from the past and remember those still in harms way.

Here are thousands of reasons for that moment of remembrance:

War casualties:

Iraq (March 19, 2003-present) 1,647

Afghanistan (Oct. 7, 2001-present) 187

Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) 382

Vietnam War (1964-1975) 58,200

Korean War (1950-1953) 36,574

WW II (1941-1945) 405,399

WW I (1917-1918) 116,516

Spanish-American War (1898) 2,446

Civil War (1861-1865) estimated 364,511 Union; 133,821 Confederate

Mexican War (1846-1848) 13,283

War of 1812 (1812-1815) 2,260

Revolutionary War (1775-1783) 4,435

Posted by Deb at May 30, 2005 02:31 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://marinecorpsmoms.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/682

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Honoring their sacrifice:

» Memorial Day from panda ponders
Memorial Day honors all men and women who have served our country...... [Read More]

Tracked on May 30, 2005 08:22 PM

» From Around the 'Sphere from Vista On Current Events

Around the blogesphere:
• Captain's Quarters takes California legislators to task for approving legislation that decides that [Read More]

Tracked on May 31, 2005 10:13 AM

» Arlington National Cemetery, John Wesley Yoest, USN, BMCS from Reasoned Audacity: Politics in Real Life
Every time we've made the left turn onto Eisenhower Drive, and passed through the imposing brick gates of Arlington National Cemetery, I've been overwhelmed with emotion. Family members of those buried at Arlington National Cemetery, are given a specia... [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2005 10:20 AM

Tracked on June 3, 2005 10:29 AM

Tracked on June 3, 2005 11:51 AM