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Thank you veterans

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shark lobster

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Words are insufficient to express my gratitude for all veterans, so I will simply say "Thank You" to all who've served, some of whom have made the ultimate sacrifice.  

 

A special thanks goes out to my Uncles and my Dad.  Some were and are very dear friends, and one I never knew.  I write this to honor them and to acknowledge my gratitude for both their service and having had the benefit of their wisdom over the decades.

 

The photo is the cover of my Uncle George's book, Brothers and Heroes, which describes the military service of his six older brothers.

 

From top left, going clockwise:

 

--Jean Clovis Lambert (aka my Uncle John).  Sergeant, USMC, Korean War.  1st Marine Division.  Inchon-Seoul, Choisin Reservoir Campaign. It will have to suffice to say that he was in the thick of it in many ways, most of which he'd prefer that I not describe.  He and my dad were very close, so I saw him a lot while growing up, and got to be good friends with his sons, Eric and Marc.  Its no wonder that, after freezing his butt off in Korea, he's now enjoying retirement in FL.

 

--Armand Bernard Lambert, PVT, USMCR, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.  I never knew Armand, for he was KIA 21 July, 1944, Guam at age 20, after having enlisted just one week after Pearl Harbor at age 17.  Remains never found.  Perhaps the most-decorated of all of my uncles, with a Purple Heart, Victory Medal WWII, Marksman, and Presidential Unit Citation (all posthumously).  

First combat action:  Guadalcanal, 30 July, 1942.  

 

--Paul Robert Lambert, Sergeant, USMC.  Stationed in China with the Third Marines, Third Regiment, Maintenance Battalion after having joined Second Marine Division, 6th Regiment, E Company in Japan.

Always known to me as "Mon Oncle Paul" (having grown up in a French-Canadian family in Augusta, ME), I always looked forward to my family's time with his family, including some six cousins.  

 

--My Dad, William Alfred Lambert, Staff Sergeant, US Army.  Enlisted 29 April 1949.  Stationed on Tokyo during the Korean War as a driver for Generals Ridgway and Clarke.  Re-enlisted in the National Guard for almost 20 years.  Few days go by that I don't think of him.

 

--Laurent Albert Lambert, PVT, US Army.  Enlisted 23 April 1945.  The Italian campaign had ended by the time that he arrived in Italy, and after having been accidentally shot in the leg by a fellow soldier, he was assigned to the Red Cross.  One of the most considerate and generous men that I've ever had the pleasure to know, he helped so many hundreds of people (including his then-13 year old nephew with a new gas tank mounting bracket for my mini-bike), and always with a smile.  

 

--J. Louis Lambert, Airman 1st Class, USAF.  17 June 1952 to 16 June 1956.  He hid his childhood paralytic polio from the USAF recruiters.  The only "Fly Boy" (as his brothers christened him) among the Lambert service men, he spent most of his overseas time in N. Africa, specifically in Morocco as a French/English translator 

 

Although he moved to CA when I was a boy, I was blessed to have had the opportunity to create a warm friendship with him as an adult due to my many business trips to Los Angeles, during which I rarely missed an opportunity to spend time with "Mon oncle".  Specific to Veterans Day, he built a memorial/monument to his brothers on his property, complete with a flag pole and a bronze plaque, which exists to this day.

 

 

Brothers and Heroes cover.jpg

G.B.O.G.H. -- DT326

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."--M. Mead

Be safe, be smart, be kind.--Gary Crocker, Maine Humorist/Philosopher

 

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