For me this is a somber day. I reflect on the lives of men I flew with in the war, VN, who didn’t make it back. I often wonder what would have they would have made of their lives, should they have made it back. 

I also think of those who served who did not go to the war, primarily Cecil Marchant, who passed on recently and was training to be a helo pilot when his father died. And Larry Tankersley who passed on yesterday. He was in the Navy, I believe. I think of the men I went to high school with, six of them who died or were killed in Viet Nam.

I also think of the current commander in chief in title only. Seema s he had someone give him a pass, probably his father. Bone spurs kept him from serving. This is the same guy who called soldiers and flyers, “losers and suckers”, ie. John McCain.I call trump a basic coward.

Now this draft shirker is commander in chief. He who knows from experience, zero ,about wars, death and fighting, i.e., Iran.

The straits of Hormuz will be his personal Tet Offensive, despite his on -again off again supposed cease fires.

But this is not about him. It is about men and women who served and went to a war . And to us who remember them, some from our youth and some from having served.

It is the only day I will wear anys hirt with a reference to military service on it. I wear it to let other jarheads, Marines, to let them know ….been there, done that, and to be able to say… welcome home.

I spent anahlkf hour at church talking with a man who was there at the same time I was. He was hit by friendly fire near Bien Hoa, Viet Nam.I let him know that was one of the targets I bombed near the “end” of that war, Bien Hoa.

For me, it is a holiday I pay particular attention to. Though it began in eighteen sixty five according to Google, it has evolved over time into what it has become today.

For me it has so many people , personal to me, attached to it.

Rest in peace Cecil Marchant and Larry Tankersley, you served, and the six Mercedes classmates.

So, hats off to whomever and however it began. And my deepfelt :

Thanks for the memories.Thanks for Memorial Day.

Que le vaya bien con muchos recuerdos,

F.S. Lentz, Jr.