Showing posts with label Memorial Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memorial Day. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Day after Memorial Day regrets

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 31, 2022

 I wanted to know what it was like for the majority of the people in this country, so yesterday I decided to try to ignore it was Memorial Day. I went shopping and did the normal stuff I usually do as if it was just another day. Ever since I can remember, I always honored Memorial Day. I won't say I "celebrated" it because, to tell the truth, I find it repulsive to celebrate a day like this. A lot of people disagree with me, but, that's what I believe.

My Dad, uncles, and my husband, along with most of our friends, know the price paid to serve this country. The families know it too. What I didn't know was what it was like to ignore them. Today, I'm filled with regrets about doing what the majority of people do. 

What kind of people are they? What do they value? Do they know that the minority of people who have lived in this country, provided for the defense of this whole country?

To me, Memorial Day is bittersweet, because of all the suffering that goes unnoticed and unaddressed. The price of war is always carried off the field of battle, in the hearts of those who lost someone, and in the minds of those who have lost themselves.

These men and women were just like the rest of us in a lot of ways. They had their political views, liked and disliked things, and hated and loved other things. The one thing that bound them together was no matter what divided them at home, in war, they were willing to die for one another. These same simple, heroic humans were willing to do that, yet, back home, people can't bring themselves to talk to someone else they disagree with.

Anyway, this was the first and last time I'll ignore Memorial Day because ignoring them, feels like a betrayal to my family and friends. None of them were, or are, superheroes. Not one of them was perfect. They all had flaws and strengths just like the rest of us. They all had dreams and plans, just like everyone else. Unlike everyone else, they did what none of us will ever do. They gave parts of their lives so we could live ours with rights we are too afraid to stand up and stand in line for. The right to decide who and what we want to become and how we want to live, worship, or not, where we want to live, and how we want to live our life. I choose to never again live as if they never existed and Memorial Day is just the beginning of summer.


PBS Memorial Day concert

Sunday, May 30, 2021

Remember the veterans who fought so you could heal #PTSD

PTSD Patrol and Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 30, 2021

Every Memorial Day, I cry more than most people. Almost everyone thinks about the lives lost during wars, but few think about all those who died because of the wars they fought. It also grieves me that most Americans fighting their own battles with PTSD, have no clue that the help they receive, was created because Vietnam Veterans came home and fought for all of it.

While I got involved almost forty years ago, the Afghanistan and Iraq veterans ended up getting all the attention because their generation was coming home, suffering, and committing suicide. The problem was, the majority of the veteran suicides known, were mostly over the age of fifty. In other words, pre-9 11 veterans, but few seemed to care.

In 2015 I did a video with Mike and the Mechanics song The Living Years. Vietnam Veterans Remembered was to let them know that someone was paying attention to what was still happening to them.
When I lived in Florida, I always recorded the escort of the Wall going into Wickham Park. I used that footage along with images from Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan because of the lyrics of the song. Too many forget that war they fought and too many do not know they are still fighting it.
"So we open up a quarrel Between the present and the past"
No Vietnam veteran wants to take away from the newer generations. They took a vow to fight for all generations. The thing is, they don't want to be pushed aside. It should never be one generation being helped while sacrificing the other generations.

Once in a while I go back through some old emails. This is from 2006 about the book I wrote, For The Love Of Jack. I wrote it about our generation before 2001 and then self published it to help the newer generation that would follow them, and their families. That is something I learned from them...to fight for all generations.
Thank you so much for sharing your pain and story, You have helped me with my family and you dont even know it....As I read your story I was sitting there realising that you were talking about me in so many ways...the way I had become and the way I was headed. And Yes I am a combat Vet, from a long line of vets.......if I could just find out why there is no answers...........But I wanted to say thank you.......

Let the images sink in on this video because the pictures from Afghanistan and Iraq were the only ones people seemed to care about, but the older generations waited longer, suffered longer and still fought for the newer generation so that they would not end up like them.

The thing is, my generation is still fighting so that the newer generation does not have to suffer instead of healing the wounds they carried for far too long. We are retiring and dying off but doing all we can "in the living years."

When Vietnam veterans came home and fought for all the research on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, they were concentrating on what happens to those who fight the wars for this country. They had no clue that their efforts would end up helping everyone with PTSD. If you have PTSD and are getting help to heal, and you see a Vietnam veteran, say "thank you" to them because you have the hope of healing because of them.


Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it!
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

The Living Years
Song by Mike + The Mechanics

Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Oh, crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I'm afraid that's all we've got
You say you just don't see it
He says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defence
Say it loud (say it loud), say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late (it's too late) when we die (oh when we die)
To admit we don't see eye to eye
So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts
So don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you don't give up, and don't give in
You may just be okay
So say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
Because it's too late, it's too late (it's too late) when we die (oh when we die)
To admit we don't see eye to eye
I wasn't there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late (it's too late) when we die (it's too late when we die)
To admit we don't see eye to eye
So say it, say it, say it loud (say it loud)
Say it clear (come on say it clear)

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: B.A. Robertson / Mike Rutherford (gb)
The Living Years lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Concord Music Publishing LLC

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

This is what patriots do for their county

Most of the people in the US are really patriots doing whatever they can for their country. They put others ahead of their own lives. Sure they want to be out in the sunshine and enjoying their lives, but right now the priority is saving lives.

This is the difference between what a real patriot is, and what others want to pretend to be.

Patriot
a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors. "a true patriot"

This is what a patriot does!
And stands up against those who pretend to be patriots!

These people wave flags and pretend to be fighting for "freedom" but they are selfish and do not care how what they are doing spreads death!






Wearing a mask is what patriots do!

Marine standing on a corner at attention and saluting for Memorial Day

U.S. Marine veteran stands at attention along Wendover Avenue on Memorial Day to honor combat veterans


FOX 8 News
by: Nelson Kepley
Posted: May 25, 2020

GREENSBORO, N.C. — If you were traveling down West Wendover Avenue near Interstate 40 Monday morning, you may have noticed a Marine standing on a corner at attention and saluting.
Surrounded by American flags, he was hard to miss; the honks, the waves, the stares. People stopped to take his photograph and so many said, “Thank you.”

“I did not serve during wartime. I served in peacetime, so I felt like it’s my duty to at least come out and remember those that were combat veterans, those that paid the ultimate sacrifice,” U.S. Marine veteran Skip Nix said.
Among those who stopped to take Nix’s picture was Becky Lemons, of Stoneville.

“It was an honor seeing him out there,” Lemons said.

Nix stood for two hours in a light mist flanked by two signs with a simple message.
read it here

Monday, May 25, 2020

Remembering on Memorial Day

Update Back fromNew Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery















































Ceremonies for Memorial Day canceled...but honor remains


Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 25, 2020


All across the country, Memorial Day events have been canceled because of COVID-19. While many are not even trying to honor the day, any more than they are trying to honor the rules to keep others safe, in houses all over the country, people honor this day.

Honor Flights had to be canceled. Rolling Thunder ride was canceled. The list goes on, but bargain shoppers still search for sales.

Later today I am going to a cemetery for the first time because their event has been canceled. I want to avoid crowds as much as possible. So do most of the people I know.

This is for those among us who miss the reverence of Memorial Day events.


One of the projects I did in Valencia College for Digital Media, was this video. Friends did a pretty good job even though they were not actors and the man who played Dad, had long dreadlocks, he had to stuff under his hat. I rented the uniform for him.

The thing that got me the most watching it again, was they wanted to do it because of their love for those who do serve...and the Mom was in the Army!

Dance with my father again!
When I lived in Florida this was one of my favorite events to honor the men and women on Memorial Day...they paid tribute to those who died in all wars....Glen Haven Memorial Park, Winter Park FL, Memorial Day Service 2011