CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – More than 400 Coalition Soldiers and Marines paid their respect to a fallen Marine at Basra Air Base, Iraq, May 23.

Marine 1st Lt. Matthew R. Vandegrift, was honored in a memorial plaque dedication service. The service was presided over by Marine Maj. Gen. George J. Flynn, the deputy commanding general of Multi-National Corps – Iraq, and Reverend Padre Mark Christian, the chaplain to the forces at Multi-National Division -- South East.

Lieutenant Vandegrift was killed while conducting combat operations in Basra, Iraq. He was assigned to the Military Transition Team in support of the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division.

A plaque commemorating the selfless service of Lieutenant Vandegrift was placed on the memorial wall in front of Multi-National Division Southeast Headquarters honoring British and Coalition forces killed in Southern Iraq.

The gravity of the ceremony was all the more reflected in the eyes of the Marines as Memorial weekend approaches.

“It is heartening to know that, back in the States, there will be that moment in time where people get together and reflect on the sacrifices made by those who have gone before us,” said Marine Maj. Andrew S. Burchfield, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Liaison Officer to 1st Iraqi Army Division Military Transition Team.

Lieutenant Vandegrift was laid to rest with full military honors at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, April 28.

LINK

A big Thank You to everyone who has served.

Marine 1st Lt. Matthew R. Vandergrift
Died: April 21, 2008

28, of Littleton, Colo.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died April 21 in Basra, Iraq, from wounds sustained while conducting combat operations.


Marine 1st Lt. Matthew R. Vandegrift remembered

LINK

Growing up in Texas, Matthew R. Vandegrift was the kid in the middle of the rock fight, the one who dropped a cat out a second-story window to see if it really would land on its feet, and the one who put the emergency brake on a car that was rolling down a hill after he saw it in a James Bond movie.

“He was never the guy to start the fight,” said his brother, Barrett. “But he was always the one to finish it.”

Vandegrift, 28, of Littleton, Colo., died April 21 from wounds sustained during combat in Basra. He was a 2003 graduate of Texas A&M, where he was part of the school’s Midshipmen Battalion NROTC program, and was assigned to Camp Lejeune.

Vandegrift fulfilled a lifelong desire to serve his country and to follow in the footsteps of his father, who served in the Marine Corps from 1963 to 1971. “That boy thought I hung the moon,” said his father, John Vandegrift. “It’s the proudest thing I can claim.”

Mary Jane Vandegrift described her son as a charismatic child who grew into a caring man, someone who was determined to better the lives of those around him.

“He was the perfect kid,” she said. “One in a million.”

A great article on the longest running Memorial Day parade in the nation:

By Teresa Moore/The Ironton Tribune

Saturday, May 24, 2008 11:49 PM EDT
It is, without question, the single largest gathering of Lawrence Countians in one place all year long.

Some communities celebrate Christmas with a bang, others have a parade on St. Patrick’s Day or New Year’s Day. But Lawrence Countians have taken Memorial Day to its collective heart, and have observed the day with a series of solemn memorial services and a grand, three-hour long parade.

Rain or shine, regardless of the circumstances, the Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade has marched on for 140 years. Monday, the tradition continues. Anywhere from 10,000-25,000 people will line the parade route. Countless others will watch it later on television.

For veterans, this day is less of a party and more of a chance to reflect on their own experiences and the people who were once their brothers and sisters in arms.

They know that some of those fellow soldiers and sailors and marines came home safely from the tours of duty, but others did not.

Through more than two centuries, there have been people who loved their country enough to fight for it and die for it. Memorial Day was originally meant to honor the fallen soldiers of the Civil War. It has become a day to honor all of those who have served in all wars in which Americans fought and died.

“This is to honor and remember all of the ones who gave their lives for freedom,” AmVets 5293 Commander Carroll Stamper said.

Miles Lewis understands the meaning of Memorial Day. The Vietnam veteran served in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1972. His service took him to Vietnam.

He said this day is about “caring for our veterans,” both those who have served in the past and those who are coming home now and in the future from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Curtis Faulkner was in the U.S. Army from 1972-1975, stationed in Germany. He said he is pleased this community has chosen to honor veterans in such a public way over the years with a parade.

“We appreciate the outcoming of the people and their support,” he said. “It is wonderful this has continued so many years. And it seems to get bigger and bigger every year.”

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. The procession begins at Center and Sixth streets, follows Center Street to Third Street; turns south on Third and follows Third Street to Quincy Street, turns left on Quincy Street and follows Quincy Street to Sixth Street and returns to the area of the courthouse.

There are 12 divisions to the parade and more than 2,000 will actually march in it.

The U.S. Air Force National Guard of Springfield, is scheduled to send two F-16s to the parade. This is the same military entity that has provided a flyover in previous years and unless Uncle Sam needs those planes, they will make an appearance at the start of the parade again this year.

“It all depends on the weather, the alert status (of the planes) and just a number of different things,” parade committee member Brent Pyles said. “We have received all military clearances, flight clearances. Now it’s a matter of equipment availability.”

The parade will be broadcast on Channel 25 for Time Warner Cable Co., subscribers.

Ohio University Southern Electronic Media Instructor Dave Surgalski said those who can’t attend the parade but want to watch it on television should stay tuned to that channel. The parade will be shown as soon as the tape is edited and ready.

There are a number of volunteers who make the parade possible each year. The roughly 50 members of the parade committee begin meeting in January to organize the divisions, the entrants, the preceding Navy Night service and Woodland Cemetery Service, and other aspects of the event. By spring, those monthly meetings become bi-monthly and then weekly.

The day of the parade, members of the Lawrence County Amateur Radio Association will provide communications for and between parade committee members. Members of area boy scout troops pass out flags along the parade route. Countless other volunteers will also have a part.

The floats

The parade will boast a dozen or more floats, and most of not all of them will have an individual theme that dovetails with the parade theme. Several area churches will have a float in the parade, as will some area businesses and military service organizations.

Members of the AmVets 5293 of Ironton spent a large part of Saturday assembling their Iwo Jima float.

“We’ve been gathering things for three weeks,” said Janet Stamper. “It just came to us what we wanted to do. Iwo Jima was really the start of everything.”

The float will feature actual veterans depicting the famous and historic raising of the flag.

This year’s AmVets float will be in memory of the late Michael Wagner, who was a member of that post, and the late George Patterson, a veteran and a long-time Lawrence County commissioner.

Stamper pointed out that while many people may consider Memorial Day just an extra day off work, to those who served and to their families, this day is not just another fun holiday.

“A lot of people go for just the parties and cookouts but really, this day is about the veterans.

“I think some people don’t realize that without our veterans, none of us would be here,” Betty Malone said.

http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2008/05/25/news/local01.txt

memorial day 05 with maj lunsford

Thanks for the pics!

The stallion that galloped on the tide
Was the Spirit of a Great Warrior that died

Though his body was buried in a far off land
His Soul is here racing over the surf washed sand - -

It was for freedom he lay down his Life
Amongst the flame and shot of screaming strife

Now, he races along the pounding sea
A wandering Soul, but forever - free - -

Can there ever be enough chants for him on Memorial Day?
Wakan Tanka, The Giver of Life, watches over him now - - Yatahey - -

That's beautiful GWG!

Every now and then, I cast a poem
From this prison Mystical and I call home

Then I toss them out on the electric sea
Hoping they'll help a few souls to be free - -

My heart gets full near Memorial Day
As I think of those who have gone away

I miss them all - as certain you do
Those Heroic Hearts - Tried, Valiant, and True - -

FOR THE FALLEN

Please! Remember those who served and those who gave their LIVES for this Great Country! PLEASE REMEMBER!
HONOR THE FALLEN and REMEMBER ME...

Murphy has it right!

quote:

Originally posted by USNVet940:

quote:

Originally posted by Bergy46:
I met some of the Tuskegee Airmen at an airshow a few years ago. True gentlemen and heros

Likewise, first at the Centennial of Flight airshow at Dayton in '03 and again at the Gathering of Mustangs in '07 at Columbus. It was a truly humbling and emotional experience for me to meet some of those great gentlemen.

In honor of those Tuskegee Airmen who fell in the line of duty and those who have since joined their comrades in the "tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds"....





"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God."

The Tuskegee Airmen saved a lot of Bomber Crews from a terrible fate - -

quote:

Originally posted by m551sheridan:
I just got this in a E-mail, I don't know if it has been posted here but I think your guys will like this - a true tribute to Memorial Day.

http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=876

This was beautiful ~ I wept!!
I also read it aloud yesterday prior to placing flags at the memorial park.


2008 ~ Philadelphia Memorial Park
after flags have been placed





Surrounding the flag poll

Joe ~ front right
Joe's Memorial service

From The Ironton Tribune
By Teresa Moore/The Ironton Tribune

Sunday, May 25, 2008 10:46 PM EDT
A flag flew in the breeze at the head of each grave, a tribute to a single soldier.

On Sunday, area residents sat and stood among those flags and paid collective tribute to those who have paid the price of freedom through the years.

The annual memorial service at Woodland Cemetery drew an estimated crowd of 150.

Cristianne and Frank Murphy brought two of their children, Megan and John.

“We come every year,” Cristianne Murphy said. “I think its important that people remember. I think we as a society tend to forget what this day is all about. We need to remember and pass it on to our kids.”

Kelly Wilson of Nashville, Mich., had never been to the Woodland Cemetery Service before, never been to the Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade, never been to Ironton, for that matter. But the man who will become her grandfather-in-law, Frank McNeely, is this year’s honorary grand marshal. So she her fianc/, Matt Dunham, and other members of the family came to support Grandpa.

“This is amazing,” Wilson said of this community’s outpouring of appreciation to veterans. “This is, like, grand scale.”

In his keynote speech, VFW Past State Commander Ron Hook said honoring veterans and their contributions to the cause of freedom was important in many ways. “Honoring their sacrifice serves to remind us of the cost of war but most importantly it serves of the price of peace,” Hook said.

“Memorial Day was a day born out of human necessity and more than any other holiday is a time for healing,” he said.

He urged those in attendance not only to honor those who have served in the past but those who have yet to come home from Iraq and Afghanistan. He said Congresses past and presidents past have not hesitated to call on men and women to serve their country but have often been negligent in caring for those who come home wounded of those who don’t come and in so doing leave behind widows and orphans.

“This is a holy day,” Hook said. “Whenever veterans come together to honor deceased comrades the area becomes a holy place and today we are standing on holy ground. And when we come we are not alone. They put on their crowns of honor and come to this holy place this holy day. We can’t see them, but they’re here.”

The VFW 8850 of Ironton as well as the American Legion and Military Order of the Purple Heart placed memorial wreaths at the veteran’s memorials.

The master of ceremonies was parade committee member Mark McCown. The Rev. Chad Pemberton delivered the invocation and benediction. Artists Herb Rose sang “My Country Tis of Thee” and “God Bless America” while pianist Sharon Bradshaw accompanied him. Bugler Zach Jenkins played “Taps”.

Today is the parade honoring the nation's war dead...

Strickland to attend parade
By Teresa Moore/The Ironton Tribune

Sunday, May 25, 2008 10:46 PM EDT
An honored guest will be in the procession as the 140th Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade rolls through the streets of Ironton today.

Gov. Ted Strickland will be in attendance, according to Mark McCown, secretary/treasurer for the Lawrence County Democratic Party.

Parade Grand Marshal Bob Blankenship said he was pleased.

“It’s an honor,” he said. “It’s a really great honor to have him come here.”

Strickland was supposed to be in the parade last year but had to cancel due to the illness of a close friend.

The parade begins at 10 a.m. It is the nation’s oldest continuous Memorial Day Parade. It is expected to last 2-3 hours.

Check the Chief returning after 60 years

http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2008/05/26/news/local03.txt

Clark Warren, who was born and raised in West Ironton, went on to serve his country. He spent more than 30 years in the U.S. Navy and Naval Reserves. His tours of duty took him to Korea, where he flew 46 missions as a tail gunner in Navy patrol bombers, as well as other locales around the globe.

He was awarded the distinguished flying cross and numerous other military medals. He and his wife, Barbara, eventually settled in Price, Utah.

But he never forgot his hometown. He and his family often made it home to visit family and friends, but a chance to march in the parade eluded him over the years.

But today, he makes a return engagement. Chief Warren will march in the 140th edition of the nation’s oldest, continuous Memorial Day Parade — 60 years after he last took his place in line.