To Remember and Honor

On this Memorial Day I am again posting these photos of the Army men in my family...

To remember my dad, a World War II veteran, and express my gratitude for him and all others who have served our great country on foreign soil. Several years after his war time service, Dad returned to the U.S. Army. He joined the Illinois Army National Guard and continued to serve our country as a member and full-time employee of "the Guard", until his retirement in 1976.

Everett T. Pogue
October 22, 1916 - March 7, 2002

To honor my brothers for continuing our family's proud tradition of service in the U. S. Army.

To honor my husband, also a veteran of the U.S. Army.

If you want, you can click here to read my post two years ago on Memorial Day. I was missing a photo in that post which was found and posted on June 20, 2010.

On that Memorial Day 2010, I closed with this, "I have always been so proud of the Army men in my life and so acutely aware of the fact that freedom is not free...so many have paid so much for the freedoms we all too often take for granted." and feel that ever more deeply as the years pass.

Lovin' Life ~~ With Remembrance and Honor

Addendum:

I'm still reviewing and determining the disposition of my folks' photos and remembered seeing his retirement photos so I scanned these two this evening. The first one was taken outside my childhood home and was likely the last time he donned his dress greens since it was taken around the time of his retirement from "the Guard" October 31, 1976. There were several good poses taken at this time but I especially love his shadow in this one.

His formal retirement ceremony and dinner was held on the evening of November 12, 1976 with more than 125 people attending. Mom and he are listening to his Captain's presentation in this photo.

Typical of their generation, both of my parents were so very proud of his Army service and for the opportunities afforded to all in our country.