Scars are souvenirs you never lose

This Memorial Day, as we honor the brave who gave everything for our freedom, let’s remember: True leadership means never leaving our troops in harm’s way without the tools and resolve to win. From Grenada to Bosnia to the Middle East, I’ve seen it firsthand.

In a dangerous world with real threats like Iran, we must back our military 100% and reject the reckless disregard of the past.

God bless our fallen, our veterans, and the United States of America! As you fire up the grill next weekend, put the beer on ice, busting out your best burgers or steaks, please remember why we honor Memorial Day. I’m remembering several friends and colleagues. Today, I remember my friend, Mike Hodge.

My roommate and best friend, Mike was also an Air Force pilot. We met in C-141 initial pilot qualification in Altus, OK, and decided to rent an apartment together in downtown Charleston, SC. Two single guys, living in a cottage on one of the Antebellum homes South of Broad, flying around the world, and enjoying our bachelor lives. We’d walk to the Market area of Charleston, have a few drinks, and chat up the College of Charleston girls. It was an awesome life.

Mike died on takeoff from Sigonella, NAS in Sicily. He was flying a Navy mission to Nairobi, Kenya. On takeoff, they shelled an engine. The shrapnel penetrated the airframe and set pallets of hazardous cargo on fire. The pilots donned their oxygen masks but it was too late. They tried to execute an immediate return to the runway and were halfway through their turn. The fumes from the burning cargo overcame them. They never completed the turn and hit a mountain side. Everybody perished.

I received a call from our wing commander and walked across our apartment complex to inform his girlfriend. They’d just become engaged. Mike was dead. And then, I told his parents, who lived in nearby Columbia, SC. The most sorrowful moment of my long career.

A few weeks later, I flew to escort Mike’s remains to his internment in the national cemetery in Beaufort, SC. I presented the flag to his mother on behalf of a grateful nation.

I’ll be pouring one out for Mike. Til Valhalla, Mike.

What’s one way you’re honoring service this weekend? 🇺🇸

#MemorialDay #Veterans #USA

Memorial Day

This Week in History: The Origins of Memorial Day

During this week in 1971, Memorial Day is observed on a new date. If you don’t know much about the history of this weekend’s holiday, then you are not alone. To some degree, its origins remain shrouded in mystery.

It all began with the Civil War—the deadliest conflict in American history. More than 600,000 soldiers were killed, and those deaths left gaping holes in communities. Americans all over the country began holding springtime tributes to their fallen soldiers. Soon, some of these tributes started to become more formal.

Would you believe that at least 25 cities claim that their observances were the ones that started it all?!

Waterloo, New York, is one such city. On May 5, 1866, the city may have held an observance in which all businesses were closed so citizens could honor the war dead. A century later, both a congressional resolution and a presidential proclamation would recognize Waterloo as the official birthplace of Memorial Day.

Perhaps they acted in haste? Since then, researchers have uncovered information that casts doubt on the federal designation. Potentially, a simple mistake in an 1883 newspaper article was the source of all the trouble.

Columbus, Georgia, is another city that may have started the holiday. A widow there wrote a letter that was published in many local newspapers. She urged Southerners to set aside one day to put flowers on the graves of the fallen. The letter pushed many people into action—including (confusingly) some ladies in another city named Columbus: Columbus, Mississippi. Those ladies possibly held the very first observance of Memorial Day, laying flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers.