"I'd like to do some more for you...but I'm lucky I remembered these." Heh
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Because, three-and-a-half decades later, Dino is still the King of Cool
How, I ask you, can you top: "I don't drink any more...I freeze it now, and I eat it like a popsicle."?
"I'd like to do some more for you...but I'm lucky I remembered these." Heh
"I'd like to do some more for you...but I'm lucky I remembered these." Heh
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Worth Memorializing
Let's talk about Memorial Day for a moment.
A lot of people confuse it with Veterans Day, and presume it's a holiday to honor all of our men and women in uniform. Truthfully, our vets ought to be honored every day of the year, but that's another issue.
Memorial Day (still called by its original name, Decoration Day, in some parts of the South) is for us to specifically honor those soldiers, sailors and airmen who gave their lives in combat.
To underscore what this holiday (and I use that word in its most sober sense) is truly about, I'd like to talk about the 442nd Infantry Regiment. History tells us that the 442nd, during its years of service in World War 2, was the most highly decorated military unit in American history, with an astounding 21 Medals of Honor awarded to its members. They also received a staggering 9,486 Purple Hearts, awarded to those who were wounded in action.
The 442nd served with bravery and distinction in battles across Italy, France and Germany. Perhaps their greatest hour came in October of 1944 in the French Vosges Mountains. The 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry were completely surrounded by the Germans. Refusing to surrender, the Americans were facing certain death; two attempts by Allied forces to rescue them were repelled by the Nazis, and the so-called "Lost Battalion" seemed doomed.
But then the 442nd was sent in. After five days of horrific fighting, in which the 442nd suffered over 400 casualties (more than 50% of its active roster at the time), the Germans were defeated, and the 1st Battalion was saved.
By war's end, the 442nd has suffered a casualty rate of a soul-staggering 314%! But through their efforts and their sacrifices, the Axis were beaten.
But what makes the 442nd so unique is not the number of medals it earned, nor the number of battles it won. The 442nd Regiment was special, because it was the one and only unit in the American Army comprised of Japanese-American soldiers...virtually all of them having enlisted while being incarcerated in "Relocation Camps" back in the States, where their families were still being held as prisoners. The men of the 442nd risked...and often lost...their very lives in order to fight for a nation that treated them as second class citizens at best, and sub-human criminals at worst. Because they weren't fighting for the America they knew then, but rather the America they knew could be. But for that America to come about, the men of the 442nd knew they would have to find courage above and beyond.
And that's not only why we have a Memorial Day, but why we have an America.
To those who served and sacrificed, thank you.
A lot of people confuse it with Veterans Day, and presume it's a holiday to honor all of our men and women in uniform. Truthfully, our vets ought to be honored every day of the year, but that's another issue.
Memorial Day (still called by its original name, Decoration Day, in some parts of the South) is for us to specifically honor those soldiers, sailors and airmen who gave their lives in combat.
To underscore what this holiday (and I use that word in its most sober sense) is truly about, I'd like to talk about the 442nd Infantry Regiment. History tells us that the 442nd, during its years of service in World War 2, was the most highly decorated military unit in American history, with an astounding 21 Medals of Honor awarded to its members. They also received a staggering 9,486 Purple Hearts, awarded to those who were wounded in action.
The 442nd served with bravery and distinction in battles across Italy, France and Germany. Perhaps their greatest hour came in October of 1944 in the French Vosges Mountains. The 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry were completely surrounded by the Germans. Refusing to surrender, the Americans were facing certain death; two attempts by Allied forces to rescue them were repelled by the Nazis, and the so-called "Lost Battalion" seemed doomed.
But then the 442nd was sent in. After five days of horrific fighting, in which the 442nd suffered over 400 casualties (more than 50% of its active roster at the time), the Germans were defeated, and the 1st Battalion was saved.
By war's end, the 442nd has suffered a casualty rate of a soul-staggering 314%! But through their efforts and their sacrifices, the Axis were beaten.
But what makes the 442nd so unique is not the number of medals it earned, nor the number of battles it won. The 442nd Regiment was special, because it was the one and only unit in the American Army comprised of Japanese-American soldiers...virtually all of them having enlisted while being incarcerated in "Relocation Camps" back in the States, where their families were still being held as prisoners. The men of the 442nd risked...and often lost...their very lives in order to fight for a nation that treated them as second class citizens at best, and sub-human criminals at worst. Because they weren't fighting for the America they knew then, but rather the America they knew could be. But for that America to come about, the men of the 442nd knew they would have to find courage above and beyond.
And that's not only why we have a Memorial Day, but why we have an America.
To those who served and sacrificed, thank you.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
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