Memorial day thoughts from me and Daddy...

Today is a day to honor those who have served our country, and especially those who have died for our country. Like many of you, I come from a family of men who were in the Service... most of them are dead now, and most of them I never met, but I have thought many time about them and what I could have learned from them... On Memorial Day of 2007 I wrote the following in my Journal:

I'm sitting here watching a Memorial Day tribute on TV, and as I teared up at the Navy Song I started thinking about Pawpaw and my uncle I was never able to know. My life has been influences so much by my grandfather and his outlook on things. I know that he was greatly influenced by the things he experienced while he was in the Service. I never get tired of hearing his stories, because I am simply thankful he is here to tell me. I'm thankful that he wasn't put in any major damage during his Navy years, unlike my great uncle who I never met.

Uncle Cassie Ray - I don't know much about him other than his name, that he was my grandmother's (Cole) brother... also that he was a MIA soldier... meaning that he was lost and never found. (Though I have learned since I originally wrote this that he was believed to be killed in Italy)

I have such a good relationship with my other uncles, I wonder what Uncle Cassie Ray would be like, what he might ave taught me... what I could have learned from him...

...I guess I'll never know.

Daddy wrote the following poem about his uncles he never met. One of those was Uncle Cassie Ray...

He came one frosty morning, when snow was on the ground,
Nine long months in coming, there were kinfolk all around.
He never made me anything, but happy as could be,
And folks said we were quite a pair, my little boy and me.

He grew up so straight and tall, I could plainly tell,
That someday he’d become a man, if his Dad did his job well.
But about the time he and I could both see eye to eye,
The Army sent a letter, and I had to say good-bye.

The day he left his Mom and I held our tears inside,
For he had told us he must go, his face aglow with pride.
But as his train pulled away, and disappeared from sight,
We cried and held each other close, and prayed into the night.

God please watch over our Son, as he does what he must do,
We know he can’t escape your hand, and we have faith in you.
Then one day a letter came, that said our Son was gone,
He died to save a people, so they could have a home.

Now Lord, I think that I can feel a portion of your pain,
You gave your Son to die for me, for me he took the blame.
But there are times when some of us, forget what you have done,
‘Cause just like me, you had to give your one and only Son.

Now I look forward to the day, that I see him again,
And I want to thank you for your Son, whose blood covers all my sin.
But this request I make today as my eyes grow dim,
Don’t let the ones our Sons died for ever forget them.

Written in memory of my Uncles whom I never got to know,

and my grandparents, who I did. - Dannon Cole

I am so thankful for those who have served our country selflessly and provided security for the rest of us who often take it for granted. I pray for their safety and for their families.

Love y'all,
Kacey