Thanks for the reminder. And by the way, just to add a note.

Belleau Wood is American soil, it was given to us to show their appreciation. Of course the price we paid in blood was excessive. It was also a very important battle. It was the first major battle in which we participated . After Belleau Wood the Germans had learned the Yanks where there to stay and were tenacious.The French had just been trounced and were retreating and there was fear that Paris might fall.

A French officer approached a Marine officer and suggested that they retreat .To which the Marine Replied " Retreat Hell, we just got here."

I can't imagine how those Marines took the woods !The brush was so thick you couldn't see but yards in front of you. Almost every pill box had dead Marines scattered about, victims of the intense michine gun fire and yet they kept coming until the job was done. What could possibly motivate one to risk everything in battle. I guess you do it for your buddies, the guy next to you. Ronald Regean summed it up pretty well in his speech on the 40th anniversity of "D" Day.

"The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge--and pray God we have not lost it--that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you."

Please take the time to read the whole speech. It is really inspiring and enlightening. We owe something to those who no longer walk amoung us, who gave so much, and cared so much and asked for nothing.Perhaps just learning of their sacrifices is enough for them.

http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/dday_pdh.asp