My challenge today is to name all the ancestors and relatives who have served and sometimes died in the cause of America’s freedom. It is a challenge I present to all of Redstate. It is a challenge to myself, and I have failed. I do not know everybody in my family that has served or died in America’s cause. My wife and I share Revolutionary warriors, ancestors who fought on BOTH sides of the Civil War, and relatives that fought in WWI, WWII, Korea, friends who went to Vietnam, and cousins currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Names I keep to my heart. This is not a competition. Please remember your ancestors or selves or relatives or friends. And Pray for them. Here’s my list:

The fellow that got off a boat from Ireland and signed up for the Continental Army.

The fellow who served, but whose brother shot and killed the Secretary of the Treasury.

The fellow who served with Napoleon (we should remember all servicemen) in Europe.

The fellow who served with 1st Wisconsin Artillery at Vicksburg … later, he and his brothers were captured and sent to Andersonville … two died, one survived.

The fellows who served with Waul’s Texas Legion … they drove back the only Yankee assault that broached the Confederate lines at Vicksburg.

The Great-Uncle who never mentioned that he had received the Croix de Guerre for his service in the American Expeditionary Force during WWI.

The Grandfather who spent half a century in VA hospitals because of a WWI Cavalry wound. But he was a Founder of his town’s VFW.

The Great-Uncle who lies in Henri-Chapelle, a casualty of Huntgen Forest. Do you know that Belgian children wave American flags on our Memorial Day, and dozens of towns present wreaths for our soldiers?

The folks who piloted or navigated bombers over the Pacific and Europe.

The Army Doctor assigned to occupy Japan; duty station: Nagasaki.

The Marine who carried a machine gun across Korea, and was awarded a Silver Star. He never said why.

Please honor all who have served America, on this day.

–GreyCloak