Serious Veterans Day Memorial Thread

[Clokr]

​

Today. As probably all you know already. Is the 11th of November. A date everyone who knows history knows well. As not only is today the 102nd anniversary of the end of the Great War. But at least for us in the states. Is a day for remembrance. A very solemn and sobering day for us.

I wanted to put this thread up as a ways of keeping the memories and experiences of those gone before us alive.

If you have any pictures, stories, memories, or anything from someone who has gone before you and suffered in war. Or had served in a military, regardless of country, branch, time, or any of that. I strongly encourage you to share those things. Keep their memories alive, and be their voice.

I also want to dedicate this thread to my relatives who have gone before me. And served in the Armed Forces of America

John Van Arsdale (American Revolution)
1LT. Joseph Fiester (Surgeon, ambulance corps, American Civil War)
UNKNOWN Private (112th Pennsylvania Volunteers, ACW.)
CPT. John Van Arsdale (New York Battery, ACW.)
UNKNOWN Private First Class (American Expeditionary Force, France, WW1)
Apprentice Seaman. Carl F. Fiester (US Navy, WW2)
SGT. Samual J. Fiester (Army Air Corps, WW2)
CPL. Elmer W. Fiester (Unknown position, WW2)
CPL. Earl L. Fiester (US Army, WW2)
SGT. Harold R. Fiester (1st ID, WW2)
Seaman Second Class. Thomas Fiester (US Navy, WW2)
SGT. Alvin Fiester (82nd AB, WW2 and Korea)
SPC. Ronald W. Fiester (9th ID Artillery, Vietnam and involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis)
COL. Lee Van Arsdale (1st SFOD-D, Panama. And leading party in capture of Noriega)
Brigadier General. Samual K. Zook (distant relative. Command of 57th NY, II Corps. Fell at Gettysburg. ACW)

My great uncle Harold. As said by himself and paperwork from the Army. Took part in the landing of Normandy beach. He never spoke about that day. But he was wounded, earned him a Purple Heart. And was put back to his unit where he served through France and Belgium. And took part in the Battle of the Bulge.

Samual was a member of the AAC during the war. And he took part in numerous bombing raids against the Japanese during the Pacific Campaign.

My grandfather, Ronald. Was apart of a Artillery company during the very early days of Vietnam. But was reassigned to the Southern European Task Force (SETAF) in Vicenza, Italy. Where he was one of the units that had ballistic missiles aimed at the USSR during the Crisis.

I never actually got to meet Lee, or even knew he existed until I was digging through old family files and such. From what I saw and learned he was apart of the 10th SFG before passing selection into Delta. And took part in Operation Acid Gambit. As well as the capture of Noriega during the Invasion of Panama.

Alvin was a paratroop during WW2 and Korea. He took part in the June 5th operation to drop behind German lines with the 82nd, as well as Operation Market Garden. And he completed one more combat jump in Korea. Before retiring.

John Van Arsdale from the Revolution is my proudest relative. Because he was the one to raise the flag over New York during Evacuation Day. In which he climbed the greasy flag pole, tore down the Union Jack. And raised our flag.

Joseph was a Surgeon with the Ambulance Corps. And took part in battles all over the place. And most noteably in Gettysburg. Where he treated wounded men from both sides during the battle.

I can’t really remember anything else. But if you yourself have stories or people you want to remember. Please do so, let’s carry on their legacy and memories together.

 

[Black Rain (1989)]

“I am not an Ulsterman but yesterday, the First of July, as I followed their amazing attack, I felt that I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the world. My pen cannot describe adequately the hundreds of heroic acts I witnessed, the Ulster Volunteer Force, from which the Division was made, has won a name that equals any in history. Their devotion deserves the gratitude of the British empire.” - Captain Wilfrid Spender, July 2nd 1916

One of the few units to complete their objective on the 1st day of the Battle of the Somme was the 36th Ulster Division, who reached the Schwaben Redoubt - routing the Swabian Division who had occupied the area since 1914. Some of the men choosing to wear the Orange Sashes which had been worn for generations in their family as they made the charge from Thiepval Wood toward the entrenched Swabians.

The division suffered one of the highest percentage of casualties amongst British divisions during the assault, 5,000 casualties and 2,069 deaths. That evening the men of the 36th reluctantly retreated following a German counter-attack and artillery barrage.

When these men returned from war, they found that the counties which numbered Ulster no longer numbered 9 - as 3 counties had been given away to the Irish Free State, although they had been promised by the English that Ulster would not be partitioned as a result of their service. Even the most staunch of Loyalists in Ulster today refer to this as the 'Englishman's Betrayal', especially given the tremendous casualties and acts of heroism portrayed on the 1st day of the Somme in the name of England's freedom. Although, regardless of this - it is safe to assume if the call ever came again to defend these islands, Ulstermen would gladly fight yet again to protect them.

So on and on they charged that day where others feared to tread
And in the mud and on the wire, they left behind their dead
Now the only flag to fly that day behind the German lines
Was the old red hand of Ulster with its Shamrocks bound in nine​

 

[abcdefg]

“I am not an Ulsterman but yesterday, the First of July, as I followed their amazing attack, I felt that I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the world. My pen cannot describe adequately the hundreds of heroic acts I witnessed, the Ulster Volunteer Force, from which the Division was made, has won a name that equals any in history. Their devotion deserves the gratitude of the British empire.” - Captain Wilfrid Spender, July 2nd 1916

One of the few units to complete their objective on the 1st day of the Battle of the Somme was the 36th Ulster Division, who reached the Schwaben Redoubt - routing the Swabian Division who had occupied the area since 1914. Some of the men choosing to wear the Orange Sashes which had been worn for generations in their family as they made the charge from Thiepval Wood toward the entrenched Swabians.

The division suffered one of the highest percentage of casualties amongst British divisions during the assault, 5,000 casualties and 2,069 deaths. That evening the men of the 36th reluctantly retreated following a German counter-attack and artillery barrage.

When these men returned from war, they found that the counties which numbered Ulster no longer numbered 9 - as 3 counties had been given away to the Irish Free State, although they had been promised by the English that Ulster would not be partitioned as a result of their service. Even the most staunch of Loyalists in Ulster today refer to this as the 'Englishman's Betrayal', especially given the tremendous casualties and acts of heroism portrayed on the 1st day of the Somme in the name of England's freedom. Although, regardless of this - it is safe to assume if the call ever came again to defend these islands, Ulstermen would gladly fight yet again to protect them.

So on and on they charged that day where others feared to tread
And in the mud and on the wire, they left behind their dead
Now the only flag to fly that day behind the German lines
Was the old red hand of Ulster with its Shamrocks bound in nine​

For God and Ulster