Memorial Day Open Thread

To get to Omaha, we have to win 2 or 3 against some combination of LSU/UCI, and 2 of 3 against likely either Fullerton or Stanford. Fun.

Less than 1/2 (as the crow flies) mile from campus is the National Veteran’s Cemetery. I don’t know how many students during their time at UCLA have ever visited this site. Although on several of my visits there always seemed to be somebody jogging which I was never quite comfortable with. Lately I have not seen anyone jogging there so perhaps it is no longer allowed.
 It would be my wish that every UCLA student would make one visit to this hallowed ground during their time on campus. If for nothing else it is quite peaceful, it is a great place to reflect on the sacrifices made by the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States. If you were to walk through the graves you’ll see several Medal of Honor receipients and brief descriptions of their individual heroic acts. Although if they were alive and you asked them about it you would probably get a shoulder shrug and a response that they were just doing their job.
To those of you who have seen “Saving Private Ryan” in a theater, remember the intense opening scene of the US troops storming the beach at Omaha in France, well a veteran of the landings told me about the only thing missing was the smell of diesel, gunpowder and blood. If you should ever find yourself in the cemetery replay those scenes in your mind to get an idea of what these veterans went through whether it be WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm I and Desert Storm II.Not all the veterans intered in the cemetery served in combat, however they all served our country. At least one day of the year we should reflect on their sacrifice.

Last night, my spouse and I watched and enjoyed a 47 minute speech on CSPAN 2 by UCLA grad Quang Pham who wrote the book “A Sense of Duty.” The book and the speech are about Pham’s life as an immigrant with a couple of nuggets about his days at UCLA. It is also about his father’s experiences as a prisoner in a “reeducation camp” for 17 years after the North Vietnamese won the war. The speech’s first 13 minutes are what a critic would call sort of vanilla but the remaining is funny, informative and touching. It reminds us why we honor all those who have stepped forward and served in peace and war. Check it out: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/223872

Go Bruins with a special thumbs up today to all of those those who have served (even those who went to you know where)!