He came home in a flag-draped coffin.
Every year at this time, I get weepy and teary-eyed remembering the promise my cousin made when he left for Vietnam. He said he'd be back. We all had such high hopes that he'd come home alive, we counted on it. The news of his death was devastating for our family. He was the last male Graves to carry his bloodline. Oh, how I loved him so!
Randolph Edwin Graves, an only son and my cousin, died in the Vietnam War. He was a helicopter gunner and was shot while on a recovery mission. Uncle Robert Edwin Graves, Randolph's father, was held as a Prisoner of War and perished in the Korean War. He has yet to come home to a final resting place.
This is what Memorial Day is really about:
- 625,000 Americans killed in the Civil War.
- 116,000 Americans killed in WWI.
- 405,000 Americans killed in WWII.
- 36,000 Americans killed in the Korean War.
- 58,000 Americans killed in the Vietnam War.
- 2,300 Americans killed in the Afghanistan War.
- 4,500 Americans killed in the Iraq war.
- And all the Americans killed in other wars.
My husband and I both come from a long line of military family members who stepped up to proudly serve the United States of America. We continue to give thanks and are sincerely grateful to all the heroes who fought, paying the ultimate price for our right to live in freedom.
"And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave." –American poet Joseph Rodman Drake
God bless you all!
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Buying or selling a home in southern Utah? Call me at 435.632.9374 or contact me at wanda@buynsellutah.com to help because Wanda Can!
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