On this Memorial Day weekend, I ask all of the patriots who read Powdered Wig, with whom I am so proud to be associated, to remember those heroes who have perished on battlefields across the globe that We the People might be free and comfortable.
I think of my own father, who fought in the South Pacific at such hellish places as Guadalcanal, mentioned by President Reagan in the video, below, and Bougainville as a 16-year old Marine.
I think of my grandfather, who returned from WWI with a wounded hand, mangled by several rounds from a German Gatling gun in France.
Although my father, grandfather, and I all served honorably and dutifully, Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who didn’t make it home.
As spoken by President Lincon in his Gettysburg Address…. “From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion (their very lives)—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
The following powerful tribute by President Ronald Reagan was given during his first inaugural address.
President Reagan tells the story of Private Martin Treptow, a small town barber who enlisted in the Iowa National Guard and became a part of the 168th Infantry of the 42nd (Rainbow) Division during World War I.
Treptow was killed during the war while delivering a message between battalions. His diary was found on his body and on the flyleaf under the heading, “My Pledge”, he wrote these words: “America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.”
“America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.”
