A Memorial Day Pictorial: Soldiers and Sailors at Ease

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Esgar A. Castro plays soccer with students at Bethel Seventh-day Adventist School in Punta Gorda, Belize, June 17, 2014, during Southern Partnership Station (SPS).

By The Stream Published on May 30, 2016

Originally published May 30, 2016

As we head into Memorial Day and hopefully pause with hushed gratefulness at the sacrifice of those who risked their lives for our nation and, in some cases, “gave the last full measure of devotion,” we can also reflect with fondness on the camaraderie shared through the generations by, as one of Shakespeare’s soldier heroes put it, “We few, we Band of Brothers.” The following images from days gone by to mere days ago convey some of those moments of R&R.

Al & Army Buds - 900

We start in World War II, somewhere in Europe. Notice the soldier at the bottom right. He’s not interested in the camera. While his buddies pose and smile he’s miles away, perhaps thousands of miles away, pouring over the words in a letter. Is it from his mother? His girl back home? Is she sharing that she can no longer wait? Expressing her undying faithful love? Rattling on about details of hometown life that the soldier might have scoffed at as trivial before shipping out but that he now regards as more precious than gems? Wouldn’t you love to know?

The image above comes from The Stream‘s Al Perrotta. Or should we say, Al, Jr.. That’s his father in the top row, second from the right β€” the guy who looks like he walked off a Hollywood movie set.

The woman below obviously did walk off a Hollywood movie set. Tinseltown’s biggest bombshell Marilyn Monroe is seen here sharing her talents with the troops during the Korean War. She was not the first, nor would she be the last, performer to head overseas to entertain our folks in uniform.

Marilyn Monroe performing for troops at a USO show in Korea, 1954.

Marilyn Monroe performing for troops at a USO show in Korea, 1954.

USO Show Vietnam 1968. Jennie and Terrie Frankel sang folk songs, played accordions and clarinet and entertained troops in the field in Vietnam with comedian Joey Bishop and their troop from Chicago called The Sig Sakowitz Show.

USO Show Vietnam 1968. Jennie and Terrie Frankel sang folk songs, played accordions and clarinet and entertained troops in the field in Vietnam with comedian Joey Bishop and their troop from Chicago called The Sig Sakowitz Show.

Korea wasn’t Marilyn Monroe’s first time assisting a war effort. During World War II, 18-year-old Norma Jeane Doughterty worked in a defense plant in Burbank helping to build drones while her then-husband served as a U.S. merchant seamen overseas.

Today, of course, women are serving in uniform … and proving they can celebrate a winning a hand of cards as boisterously as any male soldier.

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Jaclyn Trosper celebrates winning a card game, Feb. 17, 2014. The military members found ways to occupy time while transitioning to a deployment in Afghanistan.

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Jaclyn Trosper celebrates winning a card game, Feb. 17, 2014. The military members found ways to occupy time while transitioning to a deployment in Afghanistan.

It is true that one’s brothers in arms aren’t necessarily male. It’s also true that sometimes one’s brothers in arms aren’t necessarily human.

Lance Cpl. Jeremy D. Angenend, combat tracker handler, Military Police, III Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Okinawa, Japan, and his dog Fito play around at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan. Angenend and Fito have been partnered for two years. Angenend says that he and Fito have the same kind of goofy, outgoing personalities and they have fun together.

Lance Cpl. Jeremy D. Angenend, combat tracker handler, Military Police, III Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Okinawa, Japan, and his dog Fito play around at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan. Angenend says that he and Fito have the same kind of goofy, outgoing personalities and they have fun together. Fito says Jeremy makes a “decent wingman.”

Sgt. Dakota Meyer with Combat Roadie, his pet monkey, in Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Meyer will be receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor, from President Barack Obama in Washington, Sept. 15, making him the first living Marine recipient since the Vietnam War.

Sgt. Dakota Meyer with Combat Roadie, his pet monkey, in Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Meyer received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, from President Barack Obama in 2011, becoming the first living Marine recipient since the Vietnam War.

Sun Tzu might well have written in The Art of War, “It is better to have a monkey on your shoulder than a mama grizzly at your throat.” In 2015, Sgt. Dakota Meyer made Sarah Palin a grandmother again after fathering a child with former fiance Bristol Palin. Regardless of his tabloid notoriety, let’s not lose sight of what the man did in battle. Sgt. Meyer saved the lives of three dozen U.S. and Afghan troops pinned down by a Taliban ambush.

A scene aboard the U.S.S. Texas, just back from foreign waters, showing the 'gobs' enjoying a little fun on the big guns.

Crewmen aboard the U.S.S. Texas, posing after a return from foreign waters in 1918. From World War I to its status today as the first and oldest U.S. battleship to be a permanent floating museum, the U.S.S. Texas has been home to thousands upon thousands of sailors … or as they were nicknamed back in the day, “gobs.”

Ship Shape

Even during off time, it is crucial for our military to remain in ship shape.

ARABIAN SEA (Jan. 27, 2012) Ship’s Serviceman Seaman Marcesia T. Mayes learns to double-dutch during Flight Deck Fun Day aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

ARABIAN SEA (Jan. 27, 2012) Ship’s Serviceman Seaman Marcesia T. Mayes learns to double-dutch during Flight Deck Fun Day aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

Sgt. Aaron M. Blackstone, a refrigeration mechanic with 3rd Maintenance Battalion, and a Newark, Ohio, native, competes in a push-up competition during a community relations event April 12 at Maruglo Elementary School in Capas, Tarlac, Philippines. Armed Forces of the Philippines Marines, and U.S. Marines and sailors visited the school to play games with the children as well as drop off educational supplies.

Sgt. Aaron M. Blackstone, a refrigeration mechanic with 3rd Maintenance Battalion, and a Newark, Ohio, native, competes in a push-up competition during a community relations event April 12 at Maruglo Elementary School in Capas, Tarlac, Philippines. Armed Forces of the Philippines Marines, and U.S. Marines and sailors visited the school to play games with the children as well as drop off educational supplies.

 

Lance Cpl. Justin Rhodes, a vehicle recovery operator with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, enjoys the mud on Camp Leatherneck, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 3, 2013. The Marines were on a range at Camp Leatherneck when Rhodes' fellow Marines dared him to roll in the mud.

Lance Cpl. Justin Rhodes, a vehicle recovery operator with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, enjoys the mud on Camp Leatherneck, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 3, 2013. The Marines were on a range at Camp Leatherneck when Rhodes’ fellow Marines dared him to roll in the mud.

“On the Town”

“Shore leave” β€” two of the favorite words in a seamen’s vocabulary. The thought of it is enough to make any man or woman in uniform sing. In fact, Broadway made a musical out of it in 1944, the classic On the Town. Five years later came the smash film version, starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin.

1949: L-R: American actors Jules Munshin, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly standing on the Brooklyn Bridge in sailor's uniforms, in a still from Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's film 'On the Town', New York City. With a view of the Manhattan skyline in the background. Music by Leonard Bernstein.

1949: L-R: American actors Jules Munshin, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly standing on the Brooklyn Bridge in sailor’s uniforms, in a still from Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly’s film <i>On the Town<i>, New York City. With a view of the Manhattan skyline in the background.

But Gene, Jules and Ol’ Blue Eyes had nothing on these three sailors spotted in New York, New York this past Wednesday at the start of the annual Fleet Week New York festivities.

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 25: Sailors walk around Times Square during Fleet Week on May 25, 2016 in New York City. Nearly 4,500 Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen will participate during Fleet Week New York (FWNY) this year. General public ship tours will be conducted daily throughout the week in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 25: Sailors walk around Times Square during Fleet Week on May 25, 2016 in New York City. Nearly 4,500 Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen will participate during Fleet Week New York (FWNY) this year. General public ship tours will be conducted daily throughout the week in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

That same “wonderful town” lit up with both sailor and soldiers in August 1945 to celebrate VJ Day and the unconditional surrender of the Japanese, putting a triumphant end to WWII. America was victorious. Back then, it was okay to say we were victorious.

Soldiers and sailors celebrate VJ. day in New York city, New York, USA on September 2, 1945.

Soldiers and sailors celebrate VJ. day in New York city, New York, USA on September 2, 1945.

Though their faces are joyful, we understand that many of their brothers in arms did not come home. So many more over the course of our history have not come home. Those multitudes of fallen, as Henry Ward Beecher wrote, “hover as a cloud of witness above this Nation.”

As they hover in witness this Memorial Day weekend, let us remember them, and the brothers they served with, and their heirs who continue to serve today. Treasure them. Breathe in the liberty their sacrifice has purchased. It’s more than our duty. As President Calvin Coolidge said, “The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.”

 

Thanks to Shannon Henderson and Austin Roscoe for collecting the images. 

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