Michael E. Tank

AMERICA, WILL WE REMEMBER?

May in America, Spring, a time of new life, a rebirth hope
And of one day we set aside to remember, Memorial Day
A day to honor, to pay tribute, to pray for and remember those who have fallen
Yet amidst the picnics, barbeques, a trip to the beach or in just taking it easy
The reason for this day’s dedication is so often forgotten, lost in our busy lives

Forgotten are the warriors who gave their all
Forgotten is the heartache of the families and friends left to mourn
Forgotten are the unfulfilled promises of so many lives cut short
Forgotten is the reason for their sacrifice
Forgotten are the debts we the living owe

Veterans who have shared in the hardships
And the families and friends who have lost loved ones remember what this day is for
But year after year we look around at others
And ask that same old question, “America, will we remember?”
Join me please, as I walk across the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery

A white stone marker, weathered by time, stands silently in the shade, it reads
Haskell McKinley Bible, Born April 30, 1895 – Killed In Action, November 10, 1918
The cold silent headstones tell us so little, names and dates
What it does not tell breaks the heart and saddens the soul
For in every marker is a story, let me tell just a few

P.F.C. Bible, United States Army, died assaulting the German trenches in France
A third of his division perished with him on that day, all young Americans
Just one day before the war’s end on November 11, 1918
His heartbroken Mother passed away two days after learning of her son’s fate
Mother and son were buried on the same day

Over there on the hill, stands a small monument
It lists the names of seventeen sailors of our Navy’s infant submarine service
In 1915 the sub, F-4 went down with a crew of twenty-one
In that pioneering day of submarines, it took three months to retrieve the bodies
Only four could be identified, the seventeen forever rest now together

There are so many names to read, so many stories to tell
Walking along on the manicured lawn, passing the rows of white marble
You can follow our Country’s history, sense the sacrifices made in our Nation’s struggles
Every war in which we fought is represented, as is every branch of service
All races, and backgrounds, there are no hyphened ethnic labels here, just Americans

Read their names, reflect and pay homage, it is the least that we can do
Len Barnes, U.S. Army, Born December 14, 1922 – Died March 31, 1951
Sgt. Barnes was taken prisoner while fighting the North Koreans
Wounded and weakened, captured on November 28, 1950
He died in a POW camp and was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously

Walter Carleton Monegan, Jr., Private First Class, USMC
Born December 25, 1930 – Died September 20, 1950
Nineteen year old Walter, made the landing at Inchon with the 1st Marine Division
Single handedly he destroyed three North Korean tanks near Sosa-Ri
Exposing himself to enemy fire he fired his rocket launcher at close range

Killing the crews as they tried to escape, when going after a forth tank he was killed
He left a young widow, Elizabeth, and an infant son Walter III
P.F.C. Walter Monegan, Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously
A young life cut short while saving the lives of his fellow Marines,
A young woman left alone with an infant son with no visual memory of his namesake

Sgt. First Class Paul Ondrey, U.S. Army, a Veteran of WW II and Korea
Born January 7, 1922 – Died August 3, 1950
Killed In Action near Hamchang one week before his son’s eighth birthday
For leadership and valor he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart
His son Andrew, now 61, still feels the pain and loss, “It’s still there, it hasn’t changed.”

Lieutenant William Gardner, United States Military Academy, Class of ‘41
Was said to have had a beautiful singing voice, he sang many times at cadet functions
He was twenty-eight years old when he was killed in action
No one remembers seeing him die, that event was lost in the violence and mayhem
Of the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, ‘D-Day’

Some of our heroes buried here at Arlington had to wait a long time to come home
One such warrior was Private Robert B. Horner, U.S. Army
Robert was killed September 18, 1944 in the fighting to liberate France
His ‘Blue Ridge’ Division suffered 1094 killed or missing in September 1944
Years later in 2002, a Frenchman working in his garden discovered Robert’s remains

Now after nearly sixty years of lying on a lonely French hillside in an unmarked grave
Robert will finally make it home and rest here among his brethren
Although he is no longer Missing In Action his name will still be listed on
The Tablets of the Missing at Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France
There are still more than 88,000 Americans from all our wars, listed as MIA

On the other side of the world from Private Horner
A young Navy Ensign Edward Riepl, with seven of his crewmates
Disappeared in bad weather when their plane did not return to base
That was on August 6, 1942, in the South Pacific
His parents both passed away in the 1970’s, never knowing the fate of their beloved son

In 2000, on the remote island Espiritu Santo his remains were found by loggers
Edward was one of six children, and his brothers still talk of his kindness and strength
From small Herndon, Kansas his friends remember him with great fondness and warmth
They recall the shock and heartache that the news of his death brought to the small town
At the burial Edward’s brother, Gerald said with gratitude, “My brother is finally home.”

James P. McGrath, U.S. Navy Corpsman, attached to 3rd Recon Bn., 3rd Marines
Born December 7, 1948 – Died August 3, 1967, his body was recovered in April 1990
James along with eight Marines were killed during a retraction of their Recon team
They had held out against overwhelming odds for two days in the A Shau Valley, Vietnam
Just as they thought they would make it out alive, their helicopter was shot down

There are many service women also buried here, such as
Second Lieutenant Ruth M. Gardiner, U.S. Army, Died on 25 July 1943
Lost in a plane crash near Nannek, Alaska
She was the first Army nurse lost in World War Two
Gardiner General Hospital in Chicago is dedicated to her memory

Anna H. Campos, U.S. Army, Born September 8, 1859 – Died September 2, 1899
An army nurse during the Spanish-American War
She died “in camp near El Coure, Cuba” of an undisclosed illness
The only daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Long, her head stone was donated by
Company D, 5th United States Infantry Hospital Corps, in honor of her service

The rows of graves stretch across the green fields,
Up, over and beyond the hills of this beautiful Virginian estate
So many have given their lives, so many have suffered and sacrificed
Not only to preserve our freedoms, our way of life, our Nation
They too have died to free others, to correct a wrong, to save another’s life

Sadly some graves hold more than one hero
Like the submarine crew of the F4 there are other mass graves
The largest of these are the twenty-eight graves holding the men of the USS Serpens
Fifty-two caskets hold the remains of 250 sailors and soldiers from Guadalcanal
All perished on January 29, 1945, when the Coast Guard ammunition ship exploded

Here too is a single resting place for three brave U.S. Air Force crewmen
Part of the casualties from the ill-fated rescue attempt of the U.S. hostages in Iran
On April 25, 1980, while trying to save others, two choppers collided in the desert night
Major Richard Bakke, Major Harold Lewis and Sergeant Joel Mayo
Joined together in death, now forever share an honored rest

As America’s war on terrorism increases, so too the number of our fallen heroes
A single white marker lists the names of seven Marines killed in Pakistan
On a dark moonless night in unfamiliar terrain their plane crashed into a mountainside
Sergeant Jeanette Winters became the first female military casualty in Afghanistan
She sleeps now with her Brothers in Arms

Terrorists attacked the USS Cole on October 12, 2000 we lost seventeen Americans
Chief Petty Officer Richard Costelow, 35 and Seaman Cherone L. Gunn, 22
Were among those lost, they now rest side by side here at Arlington
Richard left behind a wife, Sharla and three sons, Dillion 13, Brady 5, and Ethan 4
A family torn apart by an act of cowardice

At the request of young Cherone’s family, he was laid to rest beside his shipmate
His father, retired Chief Petty Officer Louge Gunn, did a twenty-year hitch in the Navy
Following in his father’s footsteps like so many of our servicemen do
While hoping that his service would help to get him a career in law enforcement
Cherone was the kind of man our country needs, the type of man who will be missed

Louge Gunn knelt and pressed his forehead against his son’s casket
Struggling with his emotions he rose and proudly saluted his son
Taking the folded flag that had covered the young warrior’s coffin
He turned to Cherone’s eight-year old nephew, Christian
With tears in both their eyes, the father gave the flag to the boy

There have been over 1,200,000 American servicemen and women
Who have sacrificed their lives for our Country
Some have been killed in combat, others have died of illness or mishap
All perished in the line of duty, insuring our safety and freedoms
Giving up not only their lives, but their dreams and aspirations, for us

In the course of their commitments they have made our world a better and safer place
They have won for us our Independence, preserved our Freedoms time and again
They have defeated evil in every form, communism, Nazism, imperialism, dictatorships
Through their deaths they have saved millions from suffering death themselves
And won freedom for millions more

Here is one last story to end our stroll
Lieutenant Frederick Pokorney; Killed In Action near Nasiriyah
Became the first Marine from Operation Iraqi Freedom to be buried at Arlington
A 31-year-old “gentle giant” leaves another grieving widow, Carolyn
Alone to raise Taylor, their 2-year-old little girl

In the innocence of her youth, little Taylor holds close her Father’s flag
But she cannot understand what is happening
So when kneeling at the casket with her mother and seeing the woman’s tears
Taylor looks sadly at her mommy and asks,
“Where’s daddy?”

Dear Taylor and all of the others, who have lost someone so dear
Let me share with you something that a friend just recently told me
In the fighting for Iraq, forget the talk of politics, money and oil
For the bottom line is this, we freed a nation’s people from tyranny and fear
To die while freeing others is as close to sainthood as we mere mortals can hope to get

So as for these heroes of ours who fight for us and others,
Who have suffered and died to insure the world’s freedoms
Remember them on this Memorial Day
For the question should not be, “America, will we remember?”
But rather, “America, how could we forget?”