A Chaplain's Duty

On this Memorial Day weekend, Michelle Malkin points us to a piece written by a military chaplain who is part of a Mortuary Affairs team that has the sad duty of informing loved ones that their family member has died.

It's good to remember the sacrifices of our military, rather than just taking another day off which is pretty much what Memorial Day has become.

UPDATE: This story courtesy of HughHewitt.com:

While leading his platoon north on Highway 1 toward Ad Diwaniyah, Chontosh's platoon moved into a coordinated ambush of mortars, rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons fire. With coalitions tanks blocking the road ahead, he realized his platoon was caught in a kill zone.

He had his driver move the vehicle through a breach along his flank, where he was immediately taken under fire from an entrenched machine gun. Without hesitation, Chontosh ordered the driver to advanced directly at the enemy position enabling his .50 caliber machine gunner to silence the enemy.

He then directed his driver into the enemy trench, where he exited his vehicle and began to clear the trench with an M16A2 service rifle and 9 millimeter pistol. His ammunition depleted, Chontosh, with complete disregard for his safety, twice picked up discarded enemy rifles and continued his ferocious attack.

When a Marine following him found an enemy rocket propelled grenade launcher, Chontosh used it to destroy yet another group of enemy soldiers.

When his audacious attack ended, he had cleared over 200 meters of the enemy trench, killing more than 20 enemy soldiers and wounding several others.

Capt. Chontosh survived this heroic action and received a Navy Cross. And there are a lot more guys just like him serving our country every day.

I would be remiss this Memorial Day without mentioning my own father-in-law, Roy Jennings, who as a young private served with the Scouts in France during WWII and received a Silver Star, Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts for his actions in that war. He was also part of a recent History Channel documentary on the shootout in which he earned the Silver Star.

Our thanks go to each and every one of thos who are serving, or have served in our armed forces.