To some a day for BBQ, pool openings, and the kickoff of summer. For others, a day filled with mixed emotions. Lots of thoughts on being thankful for still being here on this earth. Saddened at times for all my brothers that are lost. Additionally, feelings of guilt are everpresent. Why did I survive? It was a game of inches. A snap of a bullet vs having it rip through your body. A safe step in the dirt vs one that would likely kill you. Feelings of not being worthy of this continued life. Fathers were taken and their kids will never know who they were except through pictures. Yet, here I sit.

Maybe these feelings of guilt are part of remembering. Keeping them around – if only in our thoughts. Ways to continue their life as part of our own.

To all my brothers that lost their lives in war or succumbed to their inner war. You’re not forgotten. Semper Fi.