Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!

Here's hoping you and yours took time to remember the fallen.

I'll be telling you about my trips in the coming days, but tonight I want to talk about a special Memorial Day tribute connected to the reel-to-reel player pictured here.

Last Wednesday, I ducked into Greg McPeak's antique store, NYA, on Market Street in Clinton. It specializes in deco, modern, pop and industrial vintage art and design. I bought several do-dads, but I froze when I saw the reel-to-reel.

"It's got a great story," Greg said. "Belonged to a guy who bought it in Saigon when he was over there during the war. He's even got recordings from AFN (Armed Forces Network) out of Saigon."

I had to have it.

Jenn and I walked up to a cafe to grab a sandwich.

"Pull it up on the Internet and see if his price is in the ballpark," Jenn said.

"OK."

And, I swear, on Google's main page was an illustration of a reel-to-reel player. A chill snaked up my spine.

"Uh, we're getting it."

A dozen or so reel-to-reel tapes came with the player. Tonight I pulled out one called "Elvis hits."

And, yeah, it was a tape of a radio broadcast on FM 104 in Gates City, Va., from Wednesday, Aug. 17, 1977, the day after The King died.

The song that just played as I wrote this sentence?

"I'm Leavin'"

The final song on the tribute show?

"You'll Never Walk Alone."

Shiver.

Happy Memorial Day.

And God bless ya, Elvis. You are missed.

Let us never forget

"And I remember daddy sayin' you'll come back a better man, and I just wonder if they ever think of me?" --- Merle Haggard, "I Wonder If They Ever Think of Me"

Today is Memorial Day.

I thought about writing a star-spangled patriotic piece today. Then I changed my mind.

This is a time to remember, not for bombast. As we give thanks for those who served, let us also remember those who have yet to make it home.

Nearly 1,800 Americans have yet to be accounted for from the Vietnam conflict alone. I wear a POW/MIA bracelet for SFC Roger C. Hallberg, United States Special Forces. Sgt. Hallberg has been missing since March 24, 1967, when he disappeared in South Vietnam.

For more info on POW/MIA efforts in the United States, click here.

Let us never forget.