Memorial Day

[<ResareRC@aol.com>]

I lurk.  This my first post to your list.  The following text was sent to 
another mailing list to which I am a member.  I just figure you might pause 
from your academic pursuit of the meticulous research of the Korean War to 
reflect on Memorial Day for a moment:

I have a tool drawer in my garage.  In this tool draw is a pair of bandage 
shears issued to me as a Corpsman (medic) with the Marine Corps.  Each time I 
open the drawer and see the shears I am taken back 49 years to the Korean 
War.  The shears are of toughened stainless steel.  They can cut through 
metal, and other materials, but they mostly were used to cut through Marine 
combat uniforms to get to the wounds, and get there quickly to stop the 
bleeding.  Memorial Day has special meaning to each of us.  On  past Memorial 
Days I have gone into bars and bought a round in memory of Marines fallen in 
battle.  At other times I have sat quietly at home wondering what the hell 
happened.  For me, Memorial Day is a day of reflection, respect, wonder, and 
regret.  Regret for the inability of mankind to recognize the stupidity of 
settling arguements  by the use of "War".  I still remember the sound of 
incoming artillery, the hiss of shrapnel flying sidways through the trench 
line, the slick feel of half-coagulated blood on sand bags, the sight of a 
pair of human lungs hanging from the stacking swivel of an M-1 Rifle, the 
smell of rotten urine thawing in the bottom of the trench when Spring comes,  
a company commander counting the beads on his rosary before the concussions 
of artillery explosions blow out the candle in his crab hole and I can no 
longer see him.  And on and on........
War Really Is Hell On Earth.  May God bless every service man who ever lived.
Robert Resare in Tigard, Oregon, United States of America