This is what Memorial Day is truly about... REMEMBER!

As a Marine Officer in the mid-80’s... having just completed a tour in the Far East, my second stateside posting was to Washington, DC. 

One of my additional duties was “Casualty Assistance Call Officer.” If a Marine was killed or seriously injured and his or her Next-of-Kin resided in the DC Metro area, I was assigned to notify the family.

While it was hard enough to notify the parents of an unmarried Marine’s death, it was particularly tough to notify a young spouse and/or younger children. Per the picture above, presenting the folded flag on bended knee to the family of the fallen Marine after Taps was played... ALWAYS resulted in more than a few tears.

While this duty was painful, it was also uplifting in that I was given tremendous latitude to do “whatever the Marine Corps could” on behalf of the fallen Marine’s family. 

In addition to helping families of fallen Marines, I also called on the families of several Marines who were listed as "Missing in Action" in Vietnam. I developed a special relationship with the mother of a Marine pilot who had been shot down in 1967. He had been commissioned from The College of The Holy Cross almost 20 years before my commissioning at rival school Villanova. In a thick "Boston Irish" accent she would share wonderful stories of her son's exploits as a young boy and later as a teenager that were not unlike my own exploits at the same age. On one particularly poignant call, she shared with me that she understood rationally that the chances of her son still being alive were very slim, but she continued to hope. While it wasn't official policy, we typically ended each call with a prayer for her son. The “bravery” and determination displayed by this Marine Mom and the Gold Star Families I met along the way was truly awe inspiring. This life changing work taking care of our own imbued in me a lifelong commitment to veterans and their families.

This Memorial Day, take a moment to REMEMBER those who died so that we would be able to enjoy our day at the beach!

Hand salute to all Gold Star Families. Bravo Zulu and Semper Fi.

About the author... Paul McBride is a former Marine Officer and the Founder and President of American Military Society Press. You can contact him at pmcbride@amsp1775.com.