<p>Since it’s Memorial Day weekend, let’s share here if we have lost a loved one in a war. All of us can keep them in our thoughts this weekend.
I have not experienced such a loss.</p>
<p>I lost my brother in law when I was in middle school. I still miss him every single day. He was like a brother to me. He was the one who would take me on kiddie rides because rollercoasters scared me. He was just a really good all around person.</p>
<p>Eta: he was killed while evacuating citizens in Iraq ahead of a strike against insurgents. Somehow the fact that he was killed while trying to save lives was a little comforting even though I still hate this “war”</p>
<p>Not since I was born.
Several great uncles died in WWII.
One from injuries sustained at Pearl Harbor and one was a radio tech on the USS Robalo which hit a mine off Palawan Island.
My brother is retired from the Air Force & several of my older daughters friends from high school joined the Marines. One was injured in Iraq and reenlisted after he recieved a prosthetic foot.
I have a friend that I didnt meet until after he left the service. He was a Marine in Afghanistan and has severe PTSD.
My son in law was in the service, but he doesnt talk at all about it. My father in law served in Korea.
I know several other Marines who Ive known since they were young children.
Interesting that I know more Marines than other branches of the service.
Ive also volunteered for the Wounded Warrior project.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org”>http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org</a></p>
deleted for privacy reasons
<p>romani-- If you were in middle school,how did you have a brother-in-law? I am confused.</p>
<p>Fortunately I’ve not lost an immediate family member, but DH is still very active in his war veterans group and spent the weekend selling poppies (paper) to raise money for his war veterans post. THis is done around the country. Do if any of you see people selling poppies, please buy one.
HEres an explanation <a href=“http://www.bnd.com/2014/05/21/3218055/american-legion-to-sell-poppies.html”>http://www.bnd.com/2014/05/21/3218055/american-legion-to-sell-poppies.html</a></p>
<p>Jym, my sister and I are five years apart. They married when she was 18. She became a widow about six months after they married.</p>
<p>She could have had an older sister who was married. My kids are 8 years apart, although my oldest didn’t get married till this year.
But say she was married at 18. My youngest would have been only 10.</p>
<p>Like others, my relatives died before I was born. My uncle died in Germany in 1945. My g-g-grandfather died in the Civil War.</p>
<p>Not relatives, but DH is an active Marine who has spent most of his career (19 1/2 years) in infantry units so he’s witnessed the loss or severe injury of many friends since the war began. He, at one time, had the job of notifying next of kin when their Marine was killed. We’ve kept in touch with a few of these families. Thinking of them all today.</p>
<p>I have a friend whose father was a British admiral in WWI.
That blows me away.
He not only was the baby of the family, but his dad had him very late in life.
My grandpa was too old to fight in WWII, and my dad was disqualified from Korea because of his eyesight.
( which he passed on to me)
H just missed Vietnam, although we had friends who served.</p>
<p>Have not lost anyone but my Dad and two of his three brothers served in WWII. The youngest was not drafted because they were a farm family which allowed one brother to stay home and work the farm.</p>
<p>S1 is currently serving.</p>
<p>I haven’t lost anyone but my grandfather was in the Navy and at Pearl Harbor on the USS West Virginia which was catty-corner from the Arizona. He was below deck washing his clothes when they were bombed- he had to swim to get to shore. He died in 1998 at the age of 96 years. He would never speak about the war.</p>
<p>My dad served in the Army during Korea for 3 (?) years and also would not talk about the war- but would talk about ‘borrowing jeeps’ and getting in fights. Go figure.</p>
<p>I served for 20 years in the USAF and was in the first Iraq war- aircrew on C-141B so we didn’t see a lot of the action but it was still very stressful.</p>
<p>Personally, I think anyone who is thinking about running for office should be required to do a stint in the military. </p>
<p>There is a lot going on that ‘normal’ people will never understand. All I can say is that I’m proud to have served and belong to a very special club. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who have died for our country.</p>
<p>My great uncle died in WWI. My mother used to get a phone call every Veteran’s Day from the service man (and friend) who was with him when he was killed. He had originally contacted my great grandmother. When she passed away, he called my great aunt who raised my mother. Then in his later years, he called my mother who still remembered the family hearing the news of her uncle’s death: she lived with the grandmother and aunts at the time. His message was a simple one of remembrance but it really made an impression. One Veteran’s Day there was no call. My mother knew he too had passed.</p>
<p>Had an uncle who died fighting the Japanese in WWII for the Chinese Nationalists. </p>
<p>Also have another uncle who was involved in committing acts of sabotage with a group of fellow adolescents behind Japanese lines because they felt the need to strike back at the Japanese invaders. This uncle later served with the US forces in Korea as an interpreter.</p>
<p>Have one older cousin who served as a Naval aviator in the '90s and participated in patrolling the no-fly zones in Iraq after Desert Storm. Another was an Army officer, but didn’t know exactly what he did. </p>