Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Days

One day, set aside to remind people to remember those who died in the service of their country..why? Why do they need to be reminded? If they have lost someone in time of war- they do not need a day to remember- its everyday. It's finally mastering something and reaching for the phone to tell them---and they are gone. For a minute you forget, then it all comes back. Maybe its not the knock you to your knees drag your guts across the floor, but its there.
I remember when we got Doug's body back, the streets around Arlington were littered with protestors... they screamed and yelled baby killers at my brothers, ironic because it was a kid who lobbed a homemade bomb and blew my brother to bits. I became very political in that moment. Now I can say in all honesty that I believe we need to pack up our people and bring them home. This IS the modern day Viet Nam...no more sons, brothers, uncles, aunts, daughters, moms,dads,or sisters dying for a cause that has become so convoluted it isn't even funny..enough have died.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Dedicated to all the Nurses and Corpsman

Hear my prayer in silence before Thee as I ask for courage each day.Grant that I may be worthy of the sacred pledge of my profession and the lives of those entrusted to my care.Help me to offer hope and cheer in the hearts of men and my country,for their faith inspires me to give the world and nursing my best.Instill in me understanding and compassion of those who led the way.For I am thankful to You for giving me this life to live. Prayerof an Army Nurse Colonel Mildred Irene Clark, 1956

Friday, May 28, 2010

As we go about honoring those who have fought for this country, let’s remember the trail blazers, the often maligned, overlooked and ignored, the women who paved the way for the next generation, and who, in some cases, gave their lives, many without any recognition of the gov’t.
Col. Sally Murphy, the Army's first female helicopter pilot; Ellen May Tower of Byron, Michigan was the first U.S. Army nurse to die on foreign soil, of typhoid fever, in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War, and was the first woman to receive a military funeral in Michigan.
One hundred and eleven Army Nurses died overseas and one hundred and eighty six died stateside, all while serving their country in WWI. Twenty two or more U.S. Navy Yeoman (F) died during the World War.
Twenty seven Navy Nurse Corps women died while serving. Dieticians, telephone operators, YMCA volunteers, Red Cross and Salvation Army women, and women in military intelligence also lost their lives. more than 400 military women lost their lives during World War II.
In 1944 U.S. Army Nurse Aleda E. Lutz of Freeland Michigan was the first U.S. military woman to die in a combat zone during World War II when her hospital plane went down on her 196th rescue mission.
9 US woman are still listed as MIA from the war in Viet Nam and SPC Lori Piestewa, first woman, first Native American, to die in the current fiasco.