Memorial Day is a time for reflection, gratitude, and solemn remembrance. We honor the courageous women and men who’ve given their lives in service to our nation, acknowledging the large sacrifices made by them and the households they left behind. This present day carries a deep emotional weight, particularly for these with private connections to army service. As we pause to mirror on their legacy, it’s price analyzing how we assist those that proceed to serve and the households who stick with it after their loss. One insurance coverage firm that performs a big function within the lives of army households is the United Companies Vehicle Affiliation (USAA).
Based in 1922 by a bunch of Military officers who couldn’t discover insurance coverage protection as a consequence of their high-risk standing, USAA was created to serve the distinctive wants of army personnel. Through the years, it has grown into a robust monetary establishment, providing not simply auto and banking providers but in addition property insurance coverage for houses and belongings. USAA’s advertising and id are rooted in service, honor, and dedication to those that serve or have served within the army. Its Memorial Day webpage is a touching tribute, encouraging guests to mirror on the vacation’s that means and hearken to tales of fallen heroes. USAA desires to be seen not simply as an organization however as a group constructed round shared army values.
For a lot of army households, USAA is a trusted companion and one which understands the actual challenges they face. These embody frequent relocations, deployments, and the emotional and monetary complexities of life tied to army responsibility. Their houses might sit vacant for months whereas a service member is abroad. Property could also be broken in disaster-prone areas close to army bases. Members of the family might have to handle claims whereas juggling the obligations of elevating youngsters and holding down jobs, typically whereas grieving the lack of a cherished one in uniform. These usually are not hypothetical eventualities. They’re actual circumstances that complicate the insurance coverage claims course of in very human methods.
My father and sister each served within the army. I beforehand famous them in a Memorial Day put up, Remembering Coast Guard Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro. Additionally they love telling me that USAA insures them.
Whereas looking USAA’s Memorial Day tribute web page, I got here throughout a quote that stopped me in my tracks: “I’m not afraid to die, I simply hate the considered not seeing you once more.” The phrases have been highly effective, intimate, and deeply human. They struck a chord with me, not simply due to their emotional gravity, however as a result of they jogged my memory that there are deeply private tales of sacrifice and love behind each flag-draped ceremony and public tribute on Memorial Day. This was a soldier’s remaining ideas, supplied within the darkest of moments, to the folks he cherished most.
The quote was attributed to Lieutenant Tommie Kennedy of the U.S. Military Air Corps, who lived from 1923 to 1945. Intrigued, I appeared deeper into his story. Lt. Kennedy was captured by Japanese forces in 1942 throughout World Struggle II and was among the many hundreds of American and Filipino troopers compelled to endure the Bataan Dying March. This was a grueling journey marked by hunger, beatings, and abstract executions. After surviving that ordeal, he was held as a prisoner of battle beneath brutal situations. In January 1945, he was positioned aboard one of many notorious Japanese “hell ships” used to move POWs to Japan in inhumane situations.
In his remaining act of affection and braveness, Lt. Kennedy wrote a letter to his dad and mom on the backs of two household pictures. In it, he expressed his timeless love, remorse at not having the ability to see them once more, and remaining directions for the right way to use the cash he had saved. He urged they purchase a turkey ranch and requested that his nieces and nephews be cared for. He additionally talked about fellow troopers and requested that they be remembered. One way or the other, that letter made its manner residence, a fragile however enduring testomony to a younger man’s energy, coronary heart, and readability in his remaining moments.
For readers who’re on this story, here’s a hyperlink to the letters.
On this Memorial Day, we do nicely to honor the fallen. One of the best ways to honor the reminiscence of those that gave all the things is to make sure that the guarantees made to their households usually are not damaged. Memorial Day is a time of remembrance, but it surely will also be a second to recommit ourselves to justice, service, and the American values we declare to carry pricey.
Thought For The Day
“This nation will stay the land of the free solely as long as it’s the residence of the courageous.”
—Elmer Davis
