Rockne's Roundtable

Done.

Agree with one addition: remember and honor those that served and returned home as well. They put themselves in harm's way and took the risk of giving their life for us too. Thanks for serving for us Naples!

And a special thanks to those who didn't make it back.

Agreed, the sacrifice that these men and women endure to protect our country is something that so many take for granted. The freedom that so many of us enjoy does not come without a cost. May God Bless those who have served and are currently serving so that we may sleep safe at night. Many thanks to the families, whose sons and daughters wear the uniforms of courage, honor and integrity for a country that is so blessed.

I always attend the Memorial Day Services at our local cemetery and legion every year. Thanks to all Vets and God Bless!

Thanks nddan. As all you guys and gals know, the Grotto is a very special place to me. Has been since my high school days in south bend. I will be thinking of you on the 31st and hoping you have a great visit!! GO IRISH!!!!!!

It's my honor

I do every year by being with my dad at the Indy 500 ( he's a vietnam vet) and one of my best friends is in the army and was deployed in Iraq twice. I thank them both a lot. As well as my cousin and grandpa.

I wouldn't be around if my grandfather (Colonel in the 101st Airborne who was KIA while leading a chopper into enemy fire in an attempt to save a downed crew) wasn't first brave enough to head into similar enemy fire while helping my grandmother sneak out of her St. Mary's dorm room in the middle of the night to go get married.

I have a very good friend that was at D-Day. I will see him Monday and spend time with him and feel completely humbled to be with such a warrior

This is how my great uncle perished in WWII. Both I and my father are named after him. This is from an excellent yet unpublished memoir by Captain Marvin Smith, commanding officer of Company K, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division (referred to by the Nazis as "Roosevelt's SS").

"Later, I called for our artillery to fire toward our front, where I thought the enemy was. After many rounds, I stopped it. Not wanting to expose many more men to the enemy, I ordered Sgt. Byers and his squad of four or five men to penetrate beyond our lines to test the enemy after our artillery shelling quit. It was with great shock that word come that the enemy was still very much active and had opened up machine gun fire, killing Sgt. Byers. The rest of the squad made it back to safety."

However the preface to the work is perhaps the most fitting thing ever written about the men who fought World War II.

"Perhaps it is to let future generations know what we experienced there. Those who were with me will never need to know. I leave no legacy of fame to cause others to desire my story. Perhaps it is , at long last, to empty myself of long constrained emotions of these experiences."

God bless each and every veteran of this nation. We owe you far more than can ever be repaid!