Memorial Day 2024

Please Reflect on These Eight Heroes

Coming up on Monday is Memorial Day when we honor those military heroes who gave their full measure for the United States of America. Today we will highlight eight people, the first soldier, sailor, marine or airman to give their life during each of America’s major wars.

Revolutionary War

Isaac Davis (April 19, 1775) a gunsmith from Action, Massachusetts, served as a minuteman during the Battle of Concord and was shot through the heart as his company advanced upon the enemy.

Civil War

Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth (May 24, 1861) a Union officer leading his troops into Alexandria, Virginia to assist in the occupation of the city, the day after the state’s citizens voted to secede from the Union. In the city, while taking down a Confederate flag, he was shot point blank by an innkeeper.

World War I

Joseph William Guyton (May 24, 1918) was attached to the 32^nd Infantry Division in a German-held area of France and served as an automatic gunner, firing off intermittent rounds on a post near the line of resistance. The enemy shot a barrage of machine gun fire into the line where Guyton was struck and killed instantly.

World War II

Robert M. Losey (April 21, 1940) a captain in the Navy, was serving as an air attache’ in Finland when Germany invaded Oslo. Losey and his chauffeur were assisting in the evacuation of American staff and dependents from the United States Embassy. Losey was killed when a bomb exploded nearby and a fragment pierced his heart.

Korean War

Kenneth Shadrick (July 5, 1950) was assigned to the 34^th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, serving as an ammunition carrier in a bazooka squad sent to stop communist tanks near Sejong, South Korea. As he aimed a rocket at an enemy tank, he stuck his head and shoulders above the gun pit to watch; the tank’s machine gun returned fire, sending one bullet through his right arm, another through his chest, killing him instantly.

Vietnam War

Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr. (June 8, 1956) was a member of Detachment 1, 1173^rd Foreign Mission Squadron, United States Air Force. Fitzgibbon was not killed in action, but murdered by a deranged American airman who shot him as he was handing out candy to local orphans in Saigon. He and his son, Richard B. Fitzgibbon, III, are also known as one of three father-son duos killed while serving during the Vietnam War. Acknowledgement of Fitzgibbon’s death as the first casualty of the Vietnam War did not come until 1999.

Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan

Johnny Michael “Mike” Spann (November 25, 2001) was serving in the CIA’s paramilitary Special Activities Division, having previously served in the Marine Corps as a captain. Spann was dispatched to Afghanistan soon after September 11, 2001, to find Osama bin Laden. Near Mazar-e-Sharif, the CIA was holding al Qaeda fighters in the recently captured fortress of Qala-i-Jangi. Spann was killed while interrogating Taliban fighters, in particular, American Taliban John Walker Lindh. Spann was attacked when the Taliban fighters launched themselves at Spann, who took out seven men with his pistol before being killed. Spann is now memorialized with a star on the CIA Memorial Wall at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.  

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Therrell Shane Childers (March 21, 2003) served as a second lieutenant Marine Corps assigned to the 1^st Battalion, 5^th Marine Regiment, 1^st Marine Division – one of the first cleared units to enter Iraq. After the battalion secured a pumping station at the Rumaila oil fields, 20 miles north of the border with Kuwait, Iraqi soldiers unloaded from a pick-up truck and in a drive-by, Childers was shot once in the stomach. The injury became fatal when his motion to fire at those in the truck lifted his body armor, leaving him exposed.

Each of these stories makes me proud and sad at the same time; proud that each of these heroes were willing to sacrifice themselves for our country; sad their lives were cut short.

Every person reading this post will know of family members, neighbors or others who have chosen to serve the United States of America; please take a moment to reflect and give thanks for these people.

From 1868 to 1970, Memorial Day was observed on May 30. Since 1971, it has been observed on the last Monday of May and has become the unofficial start of summer.

Enjoy your Holiday and Thanks for being here.

Tom Maloney

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