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DEL.ICIO.USRemember those who died for us
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I hope that everyone enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend. There is a long gap between Christmas and May, and it’s refreshing to give the brain an extra day to recuperate.
One thing that I like to do when I drive through Duluth on holidays like this is to look at the crosses that the city posts along the roads bearing the names of servicemen and servicewomen who died during various conflicts: World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm.
When I was going to a rehab facility during my recuperation from my stroke, I would look at the crosses that lined the roads during Veterans Day. I would read their names, noting the similarities and some of their last names. Were they brothers? Father and son? I did not recognize the names, but I thought to myself that these were people whose lives touched others, whose parents, whose spouses, whose children were forever impacted by their sacrifice. I was reminded that these people whom I did not know fought and died so that I, and others, could enjoy something greater than a three-day weekend.
It’s easy for us to think about picnics, cookouts, the deadlines of our jobs and the everyday things that seem to make up our lives. The crosses along the side of the road remind us that life isn’t easy, but people died so that we can live on and prosper. The three-day weekends are for the living, but it’s important to remember why that we have those weekends to begin with. We have them because others died to make sure that we could.
Say what you want about Duluth. Talk about the traffic, the continuous additions of strip malls and apartments and houses that replaced the trees dotting the countryside. But think about how this city remembers those who gave their lives so that we could live on in freedom to talk about traffic and strip malls. Remember those who gave their lives, and remember those family members who survive to share their experiences. And, think about a city that will not let us forget how important freedom is.
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By Amos Beck
June 1, 2007 10:32 PM | Link to this
After reading your wonderful column about the crosses lining the streets of Duluth, I decided to go ahead and post this poem for Ben. Going to school with him for 12 years it would be fitting I think. Amos Beck
Johnny Yuma ~ USMC
In Memoriam, Benjamin E. Fuller, LCPL
Benjamin Fuller, no bigger than the Giants green sprout But boy you get him riled and he could shout it out… I grew up with his who-ha since the first grade Then I found out he really like me, but it didn’t make me afraid… We played Johnny Yuma; I was always the bad guy Running from the marshals posse ~ man could I fly!! So I ran on the play ground with Ben and the boys until my chubby legs wouldn’t run any more. On up into High School, a rebel still in his blood… reading of world history, Hitler, terrorism and such, Then we met up again in the 80’s just before Ben shipped off to Beirut, He was riding a big Hog, spending the last of his loot. That was the last that I heard of him, he had became a Marine I always figured he had more in life to entertain The next was a shock to my soul A white cross stuck up on the side of the road In honor of my sweetie, my pal from old…. Benjamin E. Fuller 1983 Beirut, Lebanon ~~ Semper Fi ~~
Copyright © 5/11/07 Amos Beck
Our first duty is to never forget. Ben was killed in the bombing in Beirut, Lebanon in a peace keeping mission along with other marines. I went through 12 years of school with him… On October 23, 1983 a large Islamic Jihad truck loaded with 2,500 pounds of TNT crashed through the main gate of the U.S. Marine Headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon killing 241 USA Army, Marine and Navy servicemen and wounding 81. Two minutes later another Islamic Jihad truck packed with explosives crashed into a French base two miles away killing 58 soldiers. The attacks were carried out by Hezbollah with the help of Syrian intelligence and financed by Iran.