Monday, May 28, 2007

Remember Them - Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day. Today we remember all those who have served our nation and made the final sacrifice on behalf of our nation, in defense of freedom.

Today, we will eat barbecue and watermelon, drink soda, and enjoy a fantastic day with our families and friends. This unique freedom was purchased for us with the blood, sweat and tears of millions of men and women in uniform for over 230 years. In another place, our men and women are still at war. In places around the country, families, friends and loved ones will be grieving for our fallen.

While we enjoy this day, please give a moment of thought to those who never made it home and those whose names you will never know, but purchased this day for you with the utmost love and devotion.

The following is an original song, written and performed by me. I don't claim to be a professional singer (or one at all) and Jimi Hendrix may be turning over in his grave from my guitar playing, but it comes straight from the heart in hopes that you will remember to "Thank a Vet".



We remember Sgt. Ian Anderson, Prairie Village, Kansas who died in Iraq

We remember Cpl. Lucas Frantz, Tongonoxie, Kansas who died in Iraq, whose parents were friends of my family

We remember Sgt. Donald Walters, Lee's Summit, Missouri who died during the invasion of Iraq and fought until he ran out of ammunition. First Kansas City area death.

We remember Spc. Benjamin Ashley of Independence, Missouri who died in Iraq

Family and Friends

I remember Pvt Babe Howard, US Army, WWI, great, great uncle

I remember S1C Leroy Henry, USN World War II, grandfather and the best history teacher I ever had

I remember AA Leon Henry, USN Korean War, great uncle, great friend

I remember S2C Lonnie Howard, USN, great uncle

I remember PFC Fred Bratcher, US Army, WWII, great uncle

I remember Pvt Floyd Bratcher, US Marines, WWII, great uncle

I remember Sgt Fred Waters, US Army, WWII friend of family

I remember TC1 Donald Kuehl, US Army and Air Force, Army of Occupation Germany and Korean War, uncle and beloved brother to my mom

I remember Sgt. Lewis Henry, US Army, Vietnam, favorite uncle who taught me to love history and ride motorcycles

I remember them.

Castle Arrggh Remembers

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well done.

Barb said...

A beautiful tribute, Kat. Very well done indeed. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Tom the Redhunter said...

Kat sings!

I can't say whether Jimi did any flips but your guitar playing was fine and the singing did the job. The tune did have a catchy melody though, but of course it's the words that resonate.

And most of all it is right and proper to remember those who sacrificed for our country.

Anonymous said...

Thank you. It took me back... to one of my soldiers, I will forever miss.

Kat said...

Thank you all. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and had a chance to thank a few people for their service.

Thank you Gene for your kind words and may your memories be more often sweet than sorrow.

Anonymous said...

This is a heck of a song. You need to get it redone and spread it around. The only problem is the recording quality, I think. Everything else is fantastic. I mean, it just hit it on the head what these people do for us. Totally uplifting, awesome.