Friday, September 11, 2009

The Cost of Freedom Memorial


When we were at The Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall at New York Mills yesterday, we looked at all the memorials that honored veterans of all wars. Germ and Sue's son Ryan is in the MN National Guard. He is scheduled to go to over seas in January. Ryans wife Michelle recently lost her brother in Afghanistan. They have been on a roller coaster of emotions since the July 4th weekend. Her brother was killed on July 6th with 2 other soldiers. We did not even think that his name would yet be included here on this memorial wall of dog tags. The Cost of Freedom Memorial is a series of stand-up exhibits created in gold dog tags recored with the names of those who gave their lives for our freedom since Vietnam. It includes present day Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

We were looking at The Cost of Freedom Memorial, following the the dates, getting close to the end to see how current the memorial was, and Sue gasped, and got our attention so we checked out what she had found. It was the gold dog tag of Michelle's brother. We all got tears in our eyes, and just took it in. To have his name there meant so much to Germ and Sue. I didn't know him, but when you're there, you feel like you did know him. Knew that he cared enough about his country, respected his country, his fellow Americans enough that he gave his life so that we may continue to enjoy our freedoms. We salute you and Thank You Chester (Wayne) Hosford.

4 comments:

Leah said...

Very touching! Thank you Chester (Wayne) Hosford and all so that we may live the American way of life!

Far Side of Fifty said...

Wonderful post today, we were moved to tears by so many names:(

City girl turned Country Girl said...

I'm here by way of "Growing Up A Country Girl", I just wanted to say that this post brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing your journey. And Thank you Chester (Wayne) Hosford and so many others for fighting for our country so that we can live life in this great country!!!

g said...

What a wonderful day you planned for your family. It meant for much to Sue and Germ; that was so thoughtful of you to plan the trip for them. It had to be a very hard day for them to see Waynes name there, but what a tribute. Thank you Wayne Hosford and all your fellow comrades for serving our country. Our hearts are forever gratful to you. What a message that bike said and what a wonderful service those riders provide for families.