Memorial Day

[sea_changer]

My neighbors have hung out their flags.  I have a flag too.  It rests folded in a triangle in a glass faced display case in my living room, a daily reminder.  Among my earliest memories is the sound of  bugle calls blaring through  loud speakers with Taps, the last call of the day, echoing into the darkness.  I was raised by a soldier and grew up amongst them.  I was taught that the higher pay, perks and salutes rendered to an officer came at a price and that price was that one day it might be required to be the first to climb out of a trench or over the top of a rice paddy dike or to cross a barren stretch of desert into a field of fire and say, " Follow me."                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            RIP:   LTC Robert Lamastus, LTC Calvin Emery and COL James Stone