VETERAN'S DAY 2022

Written by our family historian Chad Long. God bless our Veterans and God Bless America. This is long but worth the read. Especially now.......

Veterans Day:

I honestly don't know the sacrifice of the true American souls who died in combat to keep the freedom that we bestow. Then there are the many who served to stand guard for our freedom. I cannot fathom what a true American really is, but...

To me, it's a young Massachusetts man standing on the front of a line. Starring at redcoats awaiting for their command to fire. What pride, fear, and tenacity built in these men to stand as a traitor or rebel to the world's greatest power....

"May the lightning of your glory be seen and the thunders of your onset heard from east to west, and be ye the avengers of noble blood!' -William the Conqueror

To me, it's a sailor on a small frigate. Standing lookout off the shore of Libya. Hoping that this isn't the day they were taken by surprise. What diligence, keen sighted and faithfulness these men fought to keep our shores...

"Give me Liberty or Give me Death" -Patrick Henry

To me, it's a Tennessee Volunteer standing in a Louisiana swamp. Peering over the branches of a tree awaiting the red of the enemy to be seen and the proud words of 'Old Hickory' to fight like no other. What bravery, skill, and guts it took...

"Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his duty. Duty is the essence of mankind"- Gen. George Patton

To me, it's the young boy standing on a Virginia battlefield fighting for his cause. Whether he is right or wrong on our eyes, his conscience and forthright to bear arms for what he believes is noble. To watch brutality like no other. What loyalty, fortitude, and fearless he was...

"I am tired and sick of war. It's glory is all moonshine. It is either those to have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is Hell." -William Tecumseh Sherman

To me, it’s a rough rider volunteering to fight the Spanish in Cuba or a sailor on a ship awaiting Dewey’s attack on the Philippines. They jumped at a cause to remember the Maine. Men built in virtue and dedication like their fathers.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” -John F. Kennedy

To me, it's the young man who stood in a Belgium trench full of all the filth of mankind. Standing next to the fallen, awaiting the call of 'over the top'. Not understanding as to why he was there, but knowing his country called to him. What resolve and grit...

"In my dreams I hear again the crash of the guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield" - Gen. Douglas MacArthur

To me, it is the soldier who stood throwing up awaiting a beach, or the young sailor painting the side of the Oklahoma, or a young man dug into the black sands of Iwo Jima, or the pilot arming his plane on Midway, or a grunt emptying the Tunisian sand from his boot. All awaiting his moment, whether it be expected or not. Knowing that over the next hill, or the next clammer could be he last. What dauntlessness, earnestness, and true courage...

"We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace" -Martin Luther King

To me, it's the soldier dug in on a hill awaiting the human sea. Blistered and war torn. Or the platoon of men countlessly watching each and every step through a dense and endless jungle. What boldness, true valor, and espirit de corps...

"In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons." -Herodotus

To me, it's the soldier coming home in a box. His true golden heart of glory held in his chest. It still beating with the freedom and passion like the flag covering over him. This is the true American, not me. I complain about my freedoms. I get tired of hearing the national anthem or having to say the pledge. I scream about taxes or government. I complain about political madness. I do all this held under a blanket of protection, a plain of solace, that was provided by the multitude of patriots willing to give the ultimate sacrifice so that I can complain.

Thank you with all my heart. Thank you for my freedom. Thank you to all who served! To all dedicated in preserving our liberty.

My 4th Great Grandfather Elijah Ivey... South Carolina Captain Jacob Love’s Regiment in the Colonial Army Fairfield District. Saw Action at Eutaw Springs.

Captain Bird Nance... 2nd Regiment of Tennessee Militia, Carroll’s Brigade of General Andrew Jackson. The Battle of New Orleans

Private Alexander Jackson Long, 7th Mississippi Cavalry. Battle of Shiloh

Captain Peyton Henry Coats. 1st Tennessee Infantry. Battle of Chickamauga

Sergeant Major Daniel Augusta Young, 10th North Carolina Heavy Artillery

Private William Holman Whitford, 89th Division, KIA The Battle of Argonne Forrest, France 1918

Captain Reed Rushing, 29th Infantry Division, Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bulge.

Seaman Walter ‘Cutt’ Coffman, USS Farrugut. Battle of the Coral Sea

William Carey Long, Corporal Oklahoma Army National Guard

Lance Corporal Chris Long, Marine Corp

Specialist Claude Lee Long, Oklahoma Army National Guard

Corporal Russell Lee Amburn, Oklahoma Army National Guard