Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day. They day we have set aside to remember all those who have gone on before us to protect and defend our great nation...everyone of them, regardless of background, native state or political view point. May we never forget them...

I wish I had time to list all the men who have given their lives in defense of our great nation, but there just isn't time. So instead, I have two special groups of people I would like to recognize by the war they served in and I will wrap the post up with a few from other wars.

Nathan Hale // America's first spy; captured an hanged by the British.
Gabriel Marion // Nephew to Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox; Brutally killed in battle.
Benjamin Merrill // American Patriot and North Carolinian; Hanged at the order of Gov. Tryon after the Battle of Alamance.
James Few // Fellow soldier of Ben. Merrill; Hanged following the Battle of Alamance.

Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson // Confederate general and strong Christian; Died May 10th, 1863 after being wounded at Chancellorsville, Va.
Gen. A.P. Hill // Confederate general; Killed in the 3rd Battle of Petersburg (April 2nd, 1865)
Sam Davis // Confederate scout and Christian; Hanged by Union soldiers in November of 1863.
Keith Boswell // Aide to Gen. Jackson; Shot and killed May 2nd, 1863.
Joshua Bowman // Confederate soldier and North Carolinian; My Great-great-great-great-grandfather, murdered April 2nd, 1865. (He was not killed in battle and was shot without a trial, but that's a story for another time.)
Gen. J.E.B. Stuart // Confederate Cavalry officer; killed in May of 1864 at Yellow Tavern, Va.
Gen. Lewis Armistead // Confederate general; Killed at Pickett's Charge, July 3rd, 1863.
D. B. Little // North Carolina soldier; died April 2nd, 1865 at Petersburg,Va.

Also, representing WWII, the five Sullivan brothers who died on the same ship in the Pacific; Harlan Block, Mike Strank, Frank Sousley and Harold Shultz, flag raisers of Iwo Jima; Skipping forward to the current wars being fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, USMC Leon Lucas, who was killed by an enemy grenade while on deployment.

To these men and the hundreds of thousands more who willingly gave everything for us, Thank you for your service.