"Who More Than Self Their Country Loved"

The Memorial Day remembrance in our household includes these men of the 3rd LAR, the subjects of the video, seven Marines and their Navy medic, who served with my son, Sgt Ethan D Arguello, and paid for our freedom with their lives in 2006 in Iraq:

Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus
Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield
Cpl. Adam A. Galvez
Lance Cpl. Jason Hanson
Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris
Seaman Chadwick T. Kenyon
Lance Cpl. Randy L. Newman
Sgt. Christian B. Williams

Last year, I wrote:

"While some boys their age spent 2006 making cool protest posters in frat houses at elite universities and cementing their futures as unelected political advisors to the White House, these men were Marines lodging an effective prohibition against totalitarianism, against slavery, against cruel and unusual punishments, against theocracy, against religious persecution, against kidnapping, against abuse of women and children.

"Those who gave their lives gave them not once but every single day. Each of them and each of their brother Dragoons gave their lives every dusty deadly freezing boiling intense tedious extreme exhausted hour of every single day they spent in the desolation that remains of cursed Babylon before the terrible day when their lives were taken from them.

"The Marines whose wounds of body or spirit will forever declare their personal mettle of Honor shouldered the burdens of potential injury every single day before the attacks that cost them dearly, in faithful love for their comrades, their families, and their America. You are not named here, your stories are your own to tell or not as you see fit. But we remember you, and are grateful.

"These youthful men who returned home also give the coming years of their far horizons: they are witness and example to the sacrifices American heroes willingly made to bring liberty to lost and pitiable lands suffering under the yoke of dead history and the darkness of brutal tradition."

How can we not cherish each day of our lives in these great United States, and how can we not stand firm against encroachment on the liberty bought for us with the sacrifices of patriots who said no to tyrants again and again and again throughout our history?

Thank you God, for sending such men to protect us and our country.

Please also visit the blog "Through The Eyes Of A Gold Star Mom": the amazing, hope-and-love-filled story of Amy Galvez, whose son died for Freedom in Iraq.

In this post, you can find links to memorial sites and guest books for these heroes, if you would like to leave a note for their families.

Links to the series of all 5 posts:
Part I Introduction
Part II Body Armor Saves Lives
Part III Greater Love Has No Man: 4 killed by Bomb
Part IV The Whole Universe: 3 killed by IED, 1 killed by IED
Part V Apprendix: Links to articles about these men & the 2nd Platoon

UPDATED May 30: Thank you, Pat @ And So It Goes In Shreveport, for the link.