Memorial Day and 80th Anniversary of Liberation of France

[Berdo]

I'd sought some technical help from some of you ago. Thank you for your help. In honor of my great-uncle and Memorial Day, here's a short story. The French whom I visited will also be holding a remembrance event June 15, which will mention and honor the sacrifices of the allies during WWII.

Dominick McCutcheon

Pilot from Fort Davis remembered in touching French liberation story – The Big Bend Sentinel

BY DOMINICK McCUTCHEON This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of France. This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the death of my great-uncle — a man from Texas whom I never met, yet a man whom my family, Texas, and the French, will always remember. Second Lieutenant Jim...

bigbendsentinel.com

 

[mikewint]

In the past I've done my own Memorial Day post or added to post done by Chris. Vietnam was my war at least a tiny piece of it. The Wall is my memorial my Brothers are on it.

There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

8,283 were just 19 years old.

The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.
12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam ..

1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam ..

31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. I wonder why so many from one school.

8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.

For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.