A Tribute
Since our nation was
founded, America has called upon its men and later
women to answer the call to defend and protect our
country. Millions have answered that call to arms
and have made the sacrifices necessary to keep our
nation free. Many have paid the ultimate price,
"their lives." Our country can never repay them
for what they have done, but we can honor them and
their memories by preserving their stories so that
future generations may know.
These heroic
individuals are called VETERANS, and many of them
never tell their experiences to anyone. As they
disappear with age, a valuable national treasure
is lost. They serve their country, come home and
lead productive and useful lives raising families
and serving their respective communities in
various ways. Yet their stories remain untold and
a secret known only to them. How sad that future
generations are deprived of this part of history.
History books in our schools and libraries cannot
and do not reveal the intimate feelings of these
veterans.
To the future generations, I
hope that you will never be called upon to make
the sacrifices our veterans have made, but should
it become necessary for you to do so, please
remember that you must uphold the standards that
the past generations so nobly set. Today's
veterans wish you well and hope that you can enjoy
our precious liberty and freedom; this is what we
fought for and now hand the mantle to you.
GySgt. Gene Dixon
U.S. Marine Corps,
Retired
1st Bn 5th Marines
1st Provisional
Marine Brigade
& 1st Marine Division-(Korea
1950-1951)
MY
COUNTRY, MY FLAG
There are those in the world
that would like to see this flag fade away
forever. There are also those in this country that
would like to remove it from our way of life. They
burn it, they trample on it and desecrate it in
many other ways. They call it "Freedom of Speech".
To those that have this attitude, I would remind
them that in some countries they would be "done
away with" in short order. Their "Freedom of
Speech" would be over!
A tear of pride
falls down my cheek when I recall the battles of
the past but within memory of many of us today:
The many battles of WWII; The Korean Conflict,
Pusan Perimeter, Naktong, Inchon, and of course
the Chosin. In more recent memory: Vietnam, first
Gulf War, War on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq,
today. These are but a few, there are other
skirmishes that bear remembering. In all of these,
our brave men, and now our brave women answered
their country's call and fought for our country
and yes for our FLAG. Yes, the FLAG for them is
precious and something to be respected, and I know
it hurts each one of them when they see our
national flag desecrated in any way in the name of
"Freedom of Speech".
Gene
Dixon