What I would like to Share, this Memorial Day, -is a Treasured Memory from Childhood. Related to This Day's General Meaning and Spirit.

It was somewhere Between the Earlier and Later 60s. While I was also Somewhere Between being a Younger and Older Kid. Not Quite Either.

I was Sitting in the Car, at a Shopping Center Parking Lot, Astride a major 4 Lane Highway, -as my Mother Inside Shopped.

While Doing so, -a Good Long U.S. Army Convoy then Comes Down Along the Highway, -Passing By along their Way!

Occassionally their Flow was Interrupted by Occassional Civilian Vehicle(s), in the normal Traffic Flow. But there were many Good Stretches of Army Green Military Vehicles as Well!

It Wasn't Long before I Physically Got Out of the Vehicle, Stood a Little Outside, and Ardently Waved at All the Many Riding Soldiers! Throughout the Entire Time, and All that I Could! I may have Shouted some Hi's Over their Way too!

Many of course Didn't See me, -But Many of course Did! And a Great Many of Those, -Had Faces which Immeadiately Lit Up!, Looked my Way, and Gave a Big Sincere Smile and Wave Over Towards me!, as Well!

I was Generally Matter of Fact about Much of It!, -While Ardently Enthusiastic as Well!

The Feeling I So Got Inside!, -When Many of Those Soldiers Looked my Way, -and Returned the Feeling Over Toward me!!!

This was Great and Gratifying Not just for me, -But Also in How it Must Have Given Them a Lift!, and How It Must Have Made Them Feel!

Here was a Little Boy, -All Out Smiling at Them and Ardently Waving with his Utmost! There, in the Middle of their Ordinary Army Workday and Soldiering Tasks, -They Had Experienced This from a Little Boy!

That Little Boy, -Got his Own Sort of a Gratifying Lift Out of It as Well! Especially of course, When Many of Them Looked Back, and Burst Out into Smile and Wave!

I Had Given Them Support, -Which Somehow Inside I Felt They Needed or Could Use!

And I Had Made a Connection with Them! Each Time that Many of Them Saw me!

I Think, -No Know!, -That I Had Made Many of Their Days!

In Addition to Sincerely and Warmly Extending Themselves Over my Way, -They of course Knew that They Couldn't just be Heartless or Cold to such a Little Boy!

I from Time to Time could See Such a Soldier, -Remark on Over to his Nearby Buddies, -of That Boy and What I was Doing. Often They Too, -Would Spring to Do the Same!, Over Toward me!

They Probably Thought of How that Little Boy so Likes, Respects, and Admires Soldiers! That I Probably Dreamt of Someday Being a Soldier Myself. Which Inside in some Sense, at that Time and Others, -I Did So Feel!

"He's What We're All About!", and "He Appreciates U.S. So!", are Probably Some of the Things Many of Them were Thinking!

I am of Course Glad to Have so Given Them a Lift!, and to Have so Made Their Day! "That Kids Got Soldiering in His Heart!" "He's Gonna be a Soldier Someday!"

I Both Wanted to Connect! And to Extend Support and Appreciation! I Felt Inside Somehow, -even as a Little Kid, -That That was the Least I Could Do! And Glad of Course to so Do It!

There was of course an Army Reserve Complex, -Half a Mile to a Mile Down that same Highway. Of which I had Long Known of! I Pretty Well Gathered that They were on their Way to there.

"Perhaps They're even On Their Way to Vietnam!", -I also Thought. At that Point in the War, -Vietnam had been Typically in the News, for at least Several Years. Enuff for an Ordinary Kid to be Familiar Enough, -With this Great Current then on our National Scene! Though I was in the Dark on Much Else, -Concerning that War.

However, I Knew Enuff to Know, -That They were Good People in There Doing a Good and Important Thing!, -For Whats Right!, -For Our Defense!, -and For Our Freedom! Even as a Little Kid Otherwise Not Knowing Much on it!, -and with Other, More Normal Kid Things on his Mind!, -I Knew That!

And I so Supported our War Effort, in That Sort of a Way!

I Felt that They Might be On Their Way to Vietnam, -Via the Reserve Center. Which just May have been something of the Case. They were certainly in All Liklihood Going to the Reserve Center, for Something!

In Retrospect, -Even in those Earlier Days of the War, -Soldiers such as were in that Convoy, -I'm Sure Had Experienced Enough Public Indifference to Questioning and Hostility! To Know What That Whole Thing was About too!

And Here was Such Ready, Unexpected, and Ardent Support from a Little Boy! With, -Not Meaning to Unduly Toot my Own Horn, -a Feeling of Freedom and a Fight!, -in his Heart! Again, -I Think and Know that it Really Buoyed a Lot of Those Guys Up! I Had Made Such a Connection with Them! And They Had Made Such a Connection with me! "He's Just a Kid, -But He Knows Very Much What This is All About!"

Well, as it Happens, -Though I Had Given it some Real Thought, -and Recruiters were Certainly Courting me, -When Service Age Came, -Now in All Vollunteer Days, -I Did Not Join any Service. I Did Not Become a Soldier. I was Actually rather Strongly Considering both the Navy and the Air Force! And the Coast Guard as Well. Things Really Much More Up my Alley, and to my Liking! Only Army Copter Aviation Down at Fort Rucker, -Drew some Thought and Consideration over the Army's Way. But as it Happened, -I Ended Up joining No American Armed Service. I Did Not Fulfill some of Those Convoy Soldier's Sure Sense or Hope, in that Regard. But I Continued to Carry that Experience Around With me Inside!, and Ever Since!

Right Up with some Sweet Moments I've Occassionally Had with a Baby or Child, -That Day with the Soldiers of the Convoy, -was One of the Greatest Such Interpersonal Exchanges I've Ever Had!

Now I Must Relay the Bitter Along with the Sweet!, as Well! Also from Somewhere in my Childhood Days of the 60s. This, by Contrast, -is Something I'm Certainly Not Proud Of!

It was Also in those 60s, Those Kid Days of Mine, and in What were Only such Well Known Vietnam War of Times! This probably Occurred Several Years After my Convoy Experience.

I was by then Older, and Quite Much More Informed of What Vietnam was Generally About! Though Still Not a Full Out News Watcher, or Fully Informed.

I Certainly Had Known for Awhile, and Deeply Felt For What our POWs were Going Through!, -in North Vietnam! The Torture. The Meager and Crappy Food. And Other General Brutality, Beating, or Isolation.

Amidst This Time, -Along Came an Oppurtunity to Put my Actions Where my Heart, Feelings, Thoughts, and Words Were!

This Came in the Form of a Public Servive Announcement type of Commercial. Which I Saw a Goodly Number of Times.

It Spoke of the Plight of our POWs in North Vietnam! Something I Well Already Knew to be True! It Wasn't a Matter of my Needing Convincing.

In It, -It Gave an Address Where I Could Send Such a Letter of my Own, -in Our POW's Behalf! I Remember that After the Address's Number and such was Given, it Ended in "Democratic Republic of North Vietnam" (Of Course we All Know What an Oxymoron that One is!).

I Could Have!, -and Should Have!, -Stepped Up to the Plate! -And So Written and Sent my Letter! In Our POW's Behalf! This Too could Have been the Least I Could Do!

I Just Gave Into, -and Didn't Bring myself to Clear a Certain Bar, of (Perceived) Peer Pressure!

(Not that Anyone Whatsoever was so Pressuring me! In Fact, -If Word ever Would Get Out, -I Would Have Probably Had a Positive Peer Acceptance For it!, -Rather than a Negative One! As Well as It's Being my Right and Heartfelt Thing to Do!)

The Commercial was On for it's Weeks or More. And had eventually Run it's Course. My Chance to So Avail Myself of It, -Had Passed! Un Done, -Un Acted On! All Because of some Squeeby Kid Concerns about some Kind of Suppossed, Possible, Peer Pressure!

True, -I was a Kid at the Time, -I Didn't Come From the Best of Families and Homes, -and the Matter was No High Crime!

But It's One of those Unavoidable Shames, that One Finds Themselves Having to Live With!, -Once the Oppurtunity to Actually Act On and Do It!, -While You Can!, -While It Still Yet Presents Itself, -Has Been Let to Pass you By! By None Other than me Myself, -to Boot. A Look Yourself in the Mirror!, Kind of Thing! That One could Never Go Back To and Have Undone! My Chance to Have Done So!, -Had Irrevocably Passed On By!

You See, -Had I *Sent* That Supportive Letter in Their Behalf!, -Had I a la John Hancock Stepped Up and Put my Name to It!, -I Could Have Genuinely Had!, -a Very Different and Positive Feeling! When our POWs were Finally Released in Early 73! (At Least Many of Them). Than I Then at Release Actually Had! In Having Did Such Lapseoff as I'd Done!

It's Not Like I Wasn't Given the Oppurtunity or Chance! It Wasn't Like I Didn't Know! (Including Even the Very Address!) It Wasn't Like I Didn't Deeply Feel For our POWs! It Wasn't Like There Wasn't Anything I can Do!

Sure I Sincerely Felt and Cared For our POWs All Along!, -Right Up To and Including Their Finally Being Released! And Continueing Thereafter.

In my Area, -We Had at Least Four or So. Sawhill, Ruhling, and Two Other Guys with Names Beginning with an "R" and an "S". I Recall Seeing a "Welcome Back!" Sign with Their Names on It!, -On a Suburban Store Sign! I Shared In that Joy and Welcome Too! Thinking Something like "Right On!" or Amen!"

But I Knew Too!, -That I Did Not Send a Letter in Their Behalf!, -Back When I Perfectly Could! And So Could Not Experience or Share in *That* Part of the Experience or Joy! Now I *Could* Perfectly Have Done So!, -Though! Had I Only Stepped Up to the Plate!, (-as Incidentally I So Even Much Felt!), -and Sent Off that Letter!

Had I Sent It, -The Realization and Feeling I Could Have Had!, as I Watched Admiral Noel Gaylor Greet Them as They Stepped onto Phillipine and Free Soil!

It Would Have Been a Feeling that I Truly Did All I Could Do!, -Towards Helping to Bring This About! That I Put my Actions Publicly Where my Deepest, Most Private Thoughts and Concerns Were!

Alas!, -There was None of That Part of it All! As Indeed there Couldn't Be!, -Given my Earlier Lapseoff There! For I Did Not Write or Send the Letter in Their Behalf, -Back When I Definitely HAD the Chance To!

I Just Could Not Feel that I Had Done So!, -I Just Could Not Feel That Same Feeling! When I Most Certainly Had Not Done the Requisite Thing!, -To Bring That About!

And I of Course Ruefully Enough Knew So! To Boot. There was No Getting Around or Denying That! At Least I Then Had the Decency to Not Even Try Denying or Etc So! Facts and Passed Chances are Stubborn Things! And Can't Just be Denied!

In So Far as I Had Greatly and Sincerely Held a Real Care and Concern For these Guys All these Years, -I Could and Did Participate in the Joy of Their Homecoming!

But a Part that Could Have Otherwise Also Been There!, -Just Couldn't Be! Much as I'd Rathered and Wanted It to!

For You've Got to Do Prerequisites!, -In Order to Get Consequences and Results! This certainly Qualified as One of Those Things in Life!

I Certainly Consider it All as a Valuable Life Lesson Learned!

The Years Went On. And This Lesson Was, and Remained Learned!

It's Just Very Possible that Hundreds of our POWs *Weren't* Released in 73 or Thereafter! Along with the Hundreds who at Long Last Were!

I Havn't Lapsed Off Any Here! Were Another Commercial to Now Come Along, -I Wouldn't again Lapse Off either!

I've Been and Am Deeply Concerned over All these Many Years now, -over Their Status. As a Newswatcher, -Though I Havn't Personally Got Involved in the Issue either.

Were Another Commercial to Come, -I *Won't* Lapse Off! I Won't Again Do That!

It's just Occurred to me, that I Ought to Look Up the "DRV's" Address in my World Almanac, -and Send Such a Letter and Query to Them, -on my Own Initiative! -Not Waiting to Be Invited or Told!

I've Related these Two Experiences. Both are Experiences Relating to our Servicemen and Women, and Memorial Day, as I've just Shared!

One Where I *Did* Step Up to the Plate! And Can Be Now Genuinely and Fondly Proud!

And Another of Which I Squeamedly Didn't!, -and Now and Ever After, (After Such Golden Chance's Presentation), -Just Can't Be Proud Of! In That I Did Not Do What it Prerequisitely Takes in Order to *Be* Genuinely Proud So!

I've Related and Shared Both with you! As Cromwell said, -"Warts and All!"

(And He's the Guy who Gave such Grief, to the Irish Side of my Family! Yet at One and the Same Time, Ended Up Enabling me to Be Here!)

Well Nicauraguan Contras and Others have Since Come Up! What President Reagan Correctly Calls the Moral Equivalent of our Founding Fathers!

Point is, -I've Publicly Stepped Up to the Plate, -Be it Sunny or Rainy to Do So!, -and Stood Up For Them in Their Behalf!

Perhaps This Significantly Figures Into Why I Step Up to the Plate on Similarly Important Things Here! Come Rain or Shine! Whether it Be with a "Beatles Popularity"!, -or More Likely and Often as a "Lone Noah" of some Sort, -I Do Do So!

I Do so ever since I've Learned my Painful and Shameable Enough Life Lesson! -Which Occurred Back when PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER., Denton, Stockdale, Risner, and So Many Other Fellow Americans, -Were Enemy Held POWs.

Popularity and Peer Concerns, -Have Got to Be a Least of Concerns! Things of Values and Substance!, -Takes Far More Precedence!

Not that I'm Totally a Lone Noah now! But if on a Truly Due and Called For Thing, -It Should so Come Down to That, -Then So Be It! I've Long Ago Made Up my Mind, -That I'm Not Gonna again Squeam Off!, -Like I Did that Day!

It's Memorial Day. I Wanted to So Share This and These. The Sweet One! But Also, -Though I Hate to Have to Say it!, -The Bitter with the Sweet! As I also Happened to Have Done. When it Comes to our Servicemen! Here on This Memorial Day!

At Least my Lesson There Has Certainly Been Learned! [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]

Thank you for sharing that. Being in the Air Force myself I know what it feels like to have the gratitude of a complete stranger. There isn't much that feels better than that. Having been deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom twice now I have been able to see that same gratitude from locals in the host countries (but not in Iraq, never been there). It is always uplifting to see a stranger in a different country to stop whatever they are doing and wave or salute us as we pass.

We still get a lot of letters of support over there, mostly from schools and churches. I loved to spend my spare time reading those letters and Valentine's day cards posted on the walls of our hanger.

Anybody wanting to help out can go to uso.org. I think this is a great organization that performs a great service.