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JUNE 6-12, 2018 UCW 7
Memorial Day in this household is something to
pause on for me. It's looking at the flag that we see
every day on our entertainment center and really,
really looking at it.
It's thinking on my parents who were both killed
in a military training exercise in 1981, the reason
that this flag is in our house.
It's looking at the dog tags on it and thinking about
my grandfather and his service, but also the stories
he told of the ones who didn't come home. Or the
other pilot that he wondered about for years and
tried to find for almost the rest of his life, only to find
out this man died weeks after the last time Grandpa
saw him in another fight in World War II.
It's thoughts of the crew at the Special Forces As-
sociation Chapter 1-18 and the stories they've told
us around the bar there of their friends who didn't
make it home, in a mix of tears and some smiles to
go with them. It's watching my husband, Scott, try to
figure out how to memorialize his friends who gave
the ultimate sacrifice and then seeing him realize
that he will never be able to truly do this as perfectly
as he wants to.
It's a lot of piled emotions in one day.
And it's also me smiling as I put on my first dad's
Hawaii T-shirt and wear it for the day. Smirking that
he wore his shirts so tight in the '70s that in my time,
I'd like to think this shirt was made more for my size.
It's Scott telling great stories of his friends that he's
eventually laughing about in the telling.
It's having our flag out on the front porch and a
"Freedom" banner in the garden at the farm.
We honor them all, but more importantly to me
than anything else is the actual remembering. We
keep talking about them all. And instead of solem-
nity all the time, we're chuckling. And remembering
the trueness of them in the imperfection.
is is how we do Memorial Day, and I'm at peace
completely. To me, this is fitting.
Celebrating Memorial Day, remembering heroes
by ALLISON FONKE
OPINION
ALLISON FONKE, Contribut-
ing Writer. COMMENTS? Edi-
tor@upandcomingweekly.com.
910-484-6200.
Center: The late Air Force Capt. Donald Fonke. Right: Air Force Col. Vincent Fonke and Allison.
M A G A Z I N E
b y , f o r & a b o u t
Fayeeville Women
