America's oldest veteran to spend quiet Memorial Day at Texas home

[Valin]

Foxnews:

 

Joshua Rhett Miller

May 24, 2013

 

World War II veteran Richard Overton, left, is seen in his Army uniform in an undated photograph provided by the City of Austin. Overton, 107, sits outside his Texas home earlier this month. (AP/Austin American Statesman)

 

For his 107th Memorial Day, Richard Arvine Overton, who saw many of his fellow soldiers fall in the line of duty in World War II and even more die over the following decades, is planning a quiet day at the Texas home he built after returning home from World War II.

 

He wouldnt want it any other way.

 

Overton, who is believed to be the nation's oldest veteran, told FoxNews.com hell likely spend the day on the porch of his East Austin home with a cigar nestled in his right hand, perhaps with a cup of whiskey-stiffened coffee nearby.

 

I dont know, some people might do something for me, but Ill be glad just to sit down and rest, the Army veteran said during a phone interview. Im no young man no more.

[Valin]

The WarriorsAnd FamiliesWe Honor

Mary Katharine Ham

May 24, 2013

 

My friend Col. Tom Manion (USMC-Ret.), whose son 1LT Travis Manion (USMC) was killed in Iraq in 2007, is a man worth listening to as we go into Memorial Day. Here, he pays tribute to Sgt. Aaron Wittman, KIA in Afghanistan, and offers a vision for carrying forward the memories of those weve lost. After the shock, and after the mourning, we can do our best to honor them every day.

 

*Read the whole thing.

 

 

 

This Memorial Day, reach out in your neighborhoods and communities to honor your city or towns heroes and their families. Share their stories so future generations will understand the cost of freedom. Bring your families and friends together for a moment of silence, and put a face on those who have paid the ultimate price.

 

When I think of my son, I see the face of a young man who wanted to make a difference. By following the selfless examples of the heroes no longer with us, we can make a difference too.

The Travis Manion Foundation does the work of connecting those in the general American public to those who serve, so we can created more men and women like Travis......(Snip)

 

 

* Behind the Pay wall. Try Google "The Warriors and Families We Honor".

[clearvision]

Thanks for posting this. Rheo was telling me about this earlier in the day.

[Valin]

Thanks for posting this. Rheo was telling me about this earlier in the day.

 

Hooray For Me!!!

[Rheo]

I love how he smokes 12 cigars a day and whiskey in his morning coffee cuz it keeps your muscles limber. ha

[cudjo]

I love how he smokes 12 cigars a day and whiskey in his morning coffee cuz it keeps your muscles limber. ha

whiskey in your coffee will loosen you up.

[Casino67]

 

I love how he smokes 12 cigars a day and whiskey in his morning coffee cuz it keeps your muscles limber. ha

whiskey in your coffee will loosen you up.

 

I used to get so limber I couldn't even stand up.

[Valin]

I love how he smokes 12 cigars a day and whiskey in his morning coffee cuz it keeps your muscles limber. ha

I wonder if anyone has told him smoking can be hazardous to his health?

[Rheo]

 

I love how he smokes 12 cigars a day and whiskey in his morning coffee cuz it keeps your muscles limber. ha

I wonder if anyone has told him smoking can be hazardous to his health?

 

Probably won't worry about that until his 108th birthday.

[Valin]

 

 

I love how he smokes 12 cigars a day and whiskey in his morning coffee cuz it keeps your muscles limber. ha

I wonder if anyone has told him smoking can be hazardous to his health?

 

Probably won't worry about that until his 108th birthday.

 

 

 

You can't be too careful about this kind of thing.

[clearvision]

 

 

 

I love how he smokes 12 cigars a day and whiskey in his morning coffee cuz it keeps your muscles limber. ha

I wonder if anyone has told him smoking can be hazardous to his health?

 

Probably won't worry about that until his 108th birthday.

 

 

 

You can't be too careful about this kind of thing.

 

I hope he knows he won't be able to get Obamacare at a reasonable price because of his smoking....

[Valin]

Once we get past the I...I...I, it's what Presidents say.

[Valin]

http://youtu.be/OMAVi4VDg1o

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

[nickydog]

Once we get past the I...I...I, it's what Presidents say.

 

 

Oh good grief. I could only listen to the first 24 seconds.

[Valin]

 

Once we get past the I...I...I, it's what Presidents say.

 

Oh good grief. I could only listen to the first 24 seconds.

 

RACIST!

[Valin]

 

USS Swordfish SS 193

 

The first Swordftsh (SS-193) was laid down by Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif., on 27 October 1937; launched on 1 April 1939; sponsored by Mrs. Claude C. Bloch, wife of Admiral Bloch who was Commander in Chief of the U.S. Fleet; and commissioned on 22 July 1939, Lt. Chester C. Smith in command.

 

 

 

Following shakedown in the Pacific and post-shakedown repairs at Mare Island, Swordfish operated out of San Diego, Calif., until early 1941, when she set sail for Pearl Harbor. On 3 November, Swordfish, in company with three other United States submarines, departed Pearl Harbor, and on 22 November, arrived at Manila, Philippine Islands. The submarine remained at Manila until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December. The following day, she set sail on her first war patrol, conducted off the coast of Hainan, China. After damaging several enemy vessels on the 9th, 11th, and 14th, Swordfish sank her initial victim of the war on 16 December. Hit amidships by one of three torpedoes, the cargo ship Atsutasan Maru erupted in a cloud of smoke and flames and disappeared beneath the waves. On 27 December, Swordfish embarked the organizational staff of the Submarines Asiatic Command Staff at Manila and headed for Soerabaja, Java, arriving on 7 January 1942.

 

 

 

Swordfish departed Soerabaja on 16 January for her second war patrol, conducted in the Celebes Sea and in the Philippines. On 24 January, she torpedoed and sank the cargo ship Myoken Maru off Kema, Celebes Islands. On 20 February, she submerged in the entrance to Mariveles, Luzon, only to surface after dark to take on board the President of the Philippines and his family. She departed through a minefield and arrived at San Jose, Panay, Philippine Islands on the 22d, where the President and his party were transferred to a motor tender. Swordfish then returned to Manila Bay and embarked the High Commissioner of the Philippines, arriving at Fremantle, Western Australia, on 9 March.

(Snip)

 

 

 

On Eternal Patrol

[Valin]

Honor and Eternal Vigilance

Dave Carter

5/25/13

 

The load assignment was mundane enough. Pick up a load of something or other at a warehouse in Kansas City. I had backed the trailer to the loading dock, no easy task since the dock was inside a large garage-like structure, necessitating a tricky maneuver around the support columns as the trailer made its way back into the building. The tractor was still outside though, and the sun shining directly into my mirrors made it all but impossible to see whether the back of the trailer, some 75 feet behind me, was lined up properly inside the darkened facility. Tired, and with nerves somewhat frayed, I was placing chocks in front of the trailer tires when I saw a lady standing by the truck looking it over.

 

"Ah," I thought, "the Ride of Pride has another visitor." No matter the time or weather, when people take the time to come look at the truck, I enjoy meeting them. "Good morning, Ma'am!" I chirped. "I work in the office here," she said with her back to me, "and I just had to see this." "You're welcome to take photos if you like," I said, adding, "I think the truck has learned to actually smile when someone points a camera at it." She didn't have much to say, so I began pointing out various features of the design, and directed her attention to the emblem over the driver's door that said, "In Honor of Gold Star Families."

 

 

That was when she turned to face me, her eyes moist and ringed in red, her expression betraying the awful strain and burden of heavy loss, and I knew. The lines in her face and around her eyes were the very opposite of "laugh lines." Her solemn expression spoke years of sadness. "My son," she stammered, her lips quivering as she struggled to control her emotions. "I lost him in Iraq." The sentence pierced the soul. What to say? Words can never convey the raw and solemn power of her grief, nor blue eyes that seemed as windows into a yawning emptiness in her heart. I was overwhelmed, the words, "I'm so very sorry," stumbling stupidly from my lips.

 

(Snip)

 

A few years ago, there was a regular caller to Sean Hannity's radio show. He was a senior citizen named Marty, and he was among those who stormed the beaches at Normandy. Time after time, Hannity would ask Marty to tell listeners about his experience that day, and Marty would always change the subject, eventually signing off with the words, "Take care, my son." Then, one day, he gave in to Sean's request. He said that when the door lowered, the first thing they had to do was push the bodies of their friends into the water. You see, the hail storm of bullets cut through the first row or two. As Marty told of having to get through the bodies of his buddies while bullets whizzed all around striking flesh, helmets, gear, and water, his old heart broke anew and he began crying on the air. With a delicate touch, Sean backed away from the discussion and, obviously moved, thanked Marty for his heroism, to which Marty disagreed. The heroes were the guys who never made it home.

 

(Snip)

 

 

The Sentinel's Creed, at Arlington National Cemetery reads:

 

My dedication to this sacred duty

 

Is total and wholehearted-

 

In the responsibility bestowed on me

 

Never will I falter-

 

And with dignity and perseverance

 

My standard will remain perfection.

 

Through the years of diligence and praise

 

And the discomfort of the elements

 

I will walk my tour in humble reverence

 

To the best of my ability.

 

It is he who commands the respect I protect

 

His bravery that made us so proud.

 

Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day,

 

Alone in the thoughtful peace of night,

 

This soldier in honored Glory rest

 

Under my eternal vigilance.

[pollyannaish]

Foxnews:

 

Joshua Rhett Miller

May 24, 2013

 

World War II veteran Richard Overton, left, is seen in his Army uniform in an undated photograph provided by the City of Austin. Overton, 107, sits outside his Texas home earlier this month. (AP/Austin American Statesman)

 

For his 107th Memorial Day, Richard Arvine Overton, who saw many of his fellow soldiers fall in the line of duty in World War II and even more die over the following decades, is planning a quiet day at the Texas home he built after returning home from World War II.

 

He wouldnt want it any other way.

 

Overton, who is believed to be the nation's oldest veteran, told FoxNews.com hell likely spend the day on the porch of his East Austin home with a cigar nestled in his right hand, perhaps with a cup of whiskey-stiffened coffee nearby.

 

I dont know, some people might do something for me, but Ill be glad just to sit down and rest, the Army veteran said during a phone interview. Im no young man no more.

Handsome and dignified then and now. Thank you sir for your service!

[Valin]

[Valin]

A Tradition of Sacrifice, From Yorktown to Ramadi

It was not the Declaration of Independence that gave us freedom but the Continental Army.

LEIF BABIN

 

In 2006, my SEAL Task Unit deployed to Ramadi, Iraq. Among the rubble-pile buildings, bomb craters and burned-out hulks of vehicles, we experienced firsthand the harsh realities of war. We fought alongside the U.S. Army's Ready First Brigade of the First Armored Division to take Ramadi back from a brutal and determined insurgency.

 

Combat is hard. It is alarmingly violent, ear-shattering, dirty, exhausting and ugly. It is marked by chaos and confusion and self-doubt. But combat also highlights the determination and sacrificeand courageof those who persevere. Through such times, an unbreakable bond is formed with brothers-in-arms.

 

Those bonds were tested greatly as our task unit suffered the first SEAL casualties of the Iraq War: Marc Lee and Mike Monsoor. Later, Ryan Job died of wounds received in combat. These men were three of the most talented and capable SEALs I have known. They were also loyal friends. Their loss is deeply personal to their families and to their SEAL teammates. As Marc's and Ryan's platoon commander, I bear the crushing burden of responsibility. I will forever wish that I could somehow take their place.

 

As a result, Memorial Day is deeply personalto me, as it is to any veteran, to any military family. It is a time of mixed emotion: solemn reflection and mourning, honor and admiration for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country.

 

(Snip)

 

Memorial Day is a living monument to them, a recognition of freedom's cost. May we never take those sacrifices for granted.[/i]

[Valin]

Duty and Sacrifice

Ralph Kinney Bennett

May 25, 2012

 

(Snip)

 

At our cemetery on the hill above Ligonier, Pennsylvania, the observation has already begun. The folks from the veterans organizations have walked the rows and planted fresh American flags at the graves of their comrades. You can see hundreds of them fluttering in the sunlight or soaking limply in the rain, and there are thousands more, millions more, in cemeteries all across the United States. And in U.S. military cemeteries all over the world, the marshaled lines of simple stones stand as milestones marking the endless road of duty.

 

Memorial Day is not about death.

 

It is about duty.

 

And about the ultimate limit of dutysacrifice.

 

It is a time to remember that who we are and what we are as a nation unique in history has depended on our sense of duty and its inevitable call to sacrifice.

 

And while the particular dutythe often perilous dutyof defending our country is accepted by the professional soldier, it has often been imposed on many others and carried out reluctantly and with trepidation. For most, this duty has meant the sacrifice of timethe best years of our livesand of broken bodies. But for many others it has meant a sacrifice of life itself.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

[Valin]

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