thedrifter
05-23-09, 09:11 AM
George Baker: Never forget what we owe our young patriots
By George Baker
My American Heritage dictionary defines memorial “as a holiday to celebrate or honor the memory of a person or of an event.” And Memorial Day is “observed to commemorate members of the armed forces killed in war.”
The person that I would like to remember this Memorial Day is Gen. Peter Pace, the first Marine to serve as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States. Pace did not die in war as the definition above implies. However in Hue City during TET in February 1968, 2nd Lt. Pace had 14 Marines left standing of a full platoon of over 40, when one of his hard-charging Marines, Lance Cpl. Guido Farinaro, was killed by a sniper's bullet.
As Lt. Pace prepared in anger to call in artillery, another Marine stepped up and was killed by a sniper's bullet obviously intended for the lieutenant. Pace read something of non-agreement in the face of his platoon sergeant, and relented at the last minute. This action probably saved several innocent women and children in the village from which the sniper's bullet came and eventually reinforced the lieutenant's moral compass.
On the day of his retirement from active military service in October 2007, Pace went directly to visit “The Wall” — the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. There he left several notes to which he attached his four stars of a general. The words say much about this veteran, and about his memory of a day in Vietnam when he believes that he was responsible for the deaths of several of his Marines. Each note was written as follows: “For Guido Farinaro, USMC —These stars are not mine! With love and respect, your platoon leader, Peter Pace.”
In a larger sense, Pete Pace, honored for us all men and women killed in all wars. When Gen. Pace spoke at Cpl. Farinaro's high school, he reminded the 2009 graduates that they must hold on to their moral compass, and that we don't control when we die — we control how we live.
The American Legion National Headquarters public relation's office in Indianapolis has issued a Memorial Day suggested speech. I recommend it to all readers because it, reminds us, “that without patriotism we would have no heroes to honor today.”
The speech also quotes Oliver Wendell Homes concerning our most sacred holiday, when he urged that, “we not ponder with sad thoughts the passing of our heroes, but rather ponder their legacy — the life they made possible for us by their commitment and pain.” Gen. Pace lives but the Marines that he lost that day “gave their lives that this nation might live.”
As is Gen. Pace, so are many of us are veterans of World War II, the Korean conflict, the Cold War, Vietnam, and the current long war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our memories are often of situations similar to those of Gen. Pace and his Marines.
I knew many men and women in the military, who would have by pure instinct laid down their lives for a friend, and some suffer guilt today because they did not have an opportunity to do so.
The veterans of today and of the wars past embody the words: Duty, honor, country. Today the young men and women — the recent high school and college graduates — face another challenge, and that is a new kind of war where American is not directly threatened but that the means of war are more devastating than anything we have faced since the poison gasses of World War I.
Our young warriors, are as patriotic as any generation, and as in all wars they need our thoughts and support as the horrible wounds of some portend years of pain and treatment. We must on this Memorial Day never forget what we owe these young patriots and their parents, wives, husbands, sons and daughters.
We must not now or for the remainder of our lives allow our government to forget what price they have paid, and we must ensure that the Cpl. Farinaro's and their families not suffer the pain of too much appreciation and too little support.
Additional Facts
Lt. Col. George A. Baker III of Taylors is a retired Marine of 21 years, a board member since 1989 of the Marine Corps University and more recently of the National Museum of the Marine Corps, both in Quantico, Va. He can be reached at geoabaker111@charter.net.
Ellie
By George Baker
My American Heritage dictionary defines memorial “as a holiday to celebrate or honor the memory of a person or of an event.” And Memorial Day is “observed to commemorate members of the armed forces killed in war.”
The person that I would like to remember this Memorial Day is Gen. Peter Pace, the first Marine to serve as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States. Pace did not die in war as the definition above implies. However in Hue City during TET in February 1968, 2nd Lt. Pace had 14 Marines left standing of a full platoon of over 40, when one of his hard-charging Marines, Lance Cpl. Guido Farinaro, was killed by a sniper's bullet.
As Lt. Pace prepared in anger to call in artillery, another Marine stepped up and was killed by a sniper's bullet obviously intended for the lieutenant. Pace read something of non-agreement in the face of his platoon sergeant, and relented at the last minute. This action probably saved several innocent women and children in the village from which the sniper's bullet came and eventually reinforced the lieutenant's moral compass.
On the day of his retirement from active military service in October 2007, Pace went directly to visit “The Wall” — the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. There he left several notes to which he attached his four stars of a general. The words say much about this veteran, and about his memory of a day in Vietnam when he believes that he was responsible for the deaths of several of his Marines. Each note was written as follows: “For Guido Farinaro, USMC —These stars are not mine! With love and respect, your platoon leader, Peter Pace.”
In a larger sense, Pete Pace, honored for us all men and women killed in all wars. When Gen. Pace spoke at Cpl. Farinaro's high school, he reminded the 2009 graduates that they must hold on to their moral compass, and that we don't control when we die — we control how we live.
The American Legion National Headquarters public relation's office in Indianapolis has issued a Memorial Day suggested speech. I recommend it to all readers because it, reminds us, “that without patriotism we would have no heroes to honor today.”
The speech also quotes Oliver Wendell Homes concerning our most sacred holiday, when he urged that, “we not ponder with sad thoughts the passing of our heroes, but rather ponder their legacy — the life they made possible for us by their commitment and pain.” Gen. Pace lives but the Marines that he lost that day “gave their lives that this nation might live.”
As is Gen. Pace, so are many of us are veterans of World War II, the Korean conflict, the Cold War, Vietnam, and the current long war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our memories are often of situations similar to those of Gen. Pace and his Marines.
I knew many men and women in the military, who would have by pure instinct laid down their lives for a friend, and some suffer guilt today because they did not have an opportunity to do so.
The veterans of today and of the wars past embody the words: Duty, honor, country. Today the young men and women — the recent high school and college graduates — face another challenge, and that is a new kind of war where American is not directly threatened but that the means of war are more devastating than anything we have faced since the poison gasses of World War I.
Our young warriors, are as patriotic as any generation, and as in all wars they need our thoughts and support as the horrible wounds of some portend years of pain and treatment. We must on this Memorial Day never forget what we owe these young patriots and their parents, wives, husbands, sons and daughters.
We must not now or for the remainder of our lives allow our government to forget what price they have paid, and we must ensure that the Cpl. Farinaro's and their families not suffer the pain of too much appreciation and too little support.
Additional Facts
Lt. Col. George A. Baker III of Taylors is a retired Marine of 21 years, a board member since 1989 of the Marine Corps University and more recently of the National Museum of the Marine Corps, both in Quantico, Va. He can be reached at geoabaker111@charter.net.
Ellie