Memorial Day - 2014

Last year on Memorial Day I wrote about some friends who had served in the military at the same time that I did who are no longer with us. As we get older we obviously start losing more friends. As I wrote in an earlier post this year I was saddened to hear of the loss of Rob Sissung another of the five of us who enlisted in the Navy together in 1968. I have written about the loss before and shared pictures of Rob and his wife Jenny and talked about the hospitality they showed to those of us stationed in Millington, Tennessee when they were. There home was a great place to get away from the hectic day to day Navy school life. I wanted to honor Rob on this Memorial Day.

God Bless you Rob! We miss you!

While sorting the pictures that I mentioned in a previous post I came across pictures of a young man that I also want to honor on this day of memory. Lashon Robusky was a member of the cross country and track teams at Sierra High School. I had the privilege of coaching Lashon in cross country his senior year when he led the boy's team to their first ever trip to the State Championship meet. Lashon placed 7th individually, the first and one of only two cross country medalists in school history even to this day.

Lashon was serving in the Navy after graduation when he was tragically killed in an automobile accident in Japan. He was a fine young man and I'm proud to have known him.

My granddaughter Haley sent me new Red, White and Blue "Bracers" for my Memorial Day races.

I ran two races this weekend both wear established to honor veterans on Memorial Day weekend. The first was a race on Saturday that I also ran last year in Modesto, sponsored by the Shadowchase Running Club and benefiting the Modesto Vet Center. It is a very nice event.

Sunday I ran the Wounded Warriors 5K in Manteca, it was the first time I ran this one but I would certainly do it again. They had an entire day filled with tributes to veterans past and present. It was just a nice patriotic event that brought out a lot of veterans and supporters.

While it is a solemn holiday I am grateful that we have Memorial Day to help us pause and reflect on those who have served.