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Monday, May 30, 2005
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Memorial Day. Current mood: Sad and thoughtful.
Here I go again!!! Glory glory hallelujah, glory glory hallelujah! Glory glory hallelujah! HIS truth is marching on.
Today is "Memorial Day". This day is set aside to remember all those veterans that died, in various wars and police actions, at home and abroad, so that WE could remain free.
I don't know how many of you feel about this, maybe you had someone who died in a war, or in some other horrible way, and you do celebrate this day in honor of them?
Maybe you're the type of person who thinks wars are stupid, and you don't celebrate anything to do with them? Either way. I do, (well, not really) celebrate, but I remember someone that my family lost in a war.
My brother, Robbin Adair Goodwin. When I googled his name, this is the only information I got about him.
Robbin Adair Goodwin
Service ARMY
Rank PFC
City RIVERSIDE
Panel 09 EAST
Line 103
Date of Birth OCTOBER 4TH, 1944
Date of Casualty AUGUST 3RD, 1966
Age 21
He was so much more than these few lines in a list of casualities of the VietNam war though.
When we were young, Robbie was like Superman, Batman, The Road Runner, Captain America, and The Millionaire, all rolled up in one.
We, his younger sister, and brothers-(six of them), thought that he was the greatest, and to our knowledge, he was. I think our two older sisters felt the same way also.
After our daddy died in 1959, Robbie took over watching out for us, he did all kinds of odd jobs, like having a paper route, and being a caddy for the golfers at the local country club.
He always had dimes and quarters to give to us, after we did some little task for him, and we would fight to do stuff for him in any case! He was so cool.
My Mother depended on him alot. When I didn't do my dishes, and would sneak out of the house to go over a friend's place. A few minutes later, there he would be, and all he had to do was stand there and look at me. I went home and did my dishes.
Everybody that we knew liked my brother. He grew into a good person, oh yeah, when he was younger, he played at the same little league park as Bobby Bonds, and Robbie was a way better ball player too.
The Riverside Press newspaper called him, "The Minnie Minoso of the Little League" one year. I don't know if anyone even remembers Minnie Minoso, but I guess he was great in his day, 'cause my brother sure was!!
His funeral was so sad. It was closed coffin. They gave our Mother his Purple Heart medal, and a folded American Flag. He was only 21 years old when he died. He didn't even have to go to VietNam.
People had told my Mom to "plead a hardship", meaning with him being her oldest son, and her having seven children younger than he was, that she needed him to help care for them.
He wouldn't hear of it! He wanted to go to VietNam, so that he could send her more money.
Well he did. $10,000.00 in death benefits. That's what a person is worth to the Army, to the government. Ten thousand dollars.
His name is now "on the Wall", along with the rest of the brave men and women that died in VietNam. So when they had that traveling wall, that went around to all the cities in various states? Our family went out to see it.
You gave a name, and birthdate, (or whatever), and then they gave you a piece of paper with a number on it. You went and found the panel, and searched down it, until you came to "the name" you were looking for.
We stared at his name, and cried, all over again.
Even while I am writing this. I get tight in the throat, and have to blink my eyes to keep from crying. My Daddy died in 1959, my Mother passed in 1971. Yet, nothing makes me feel more sorrow than thinking about my brother, over there, all alone, in a foreign country, dying.
He needs to be remembered, and you better believe that ALL of us do remember him, and not just on Memorial Day, or Veteran's Day, or just on his birthday--October 4th, 1944--either but, everyday that passes, we remember Robbie.
You may not like wars, you may think holidays to honor people who died in them are stupid, and not worth your time, but that's okay, 'cause that is why they went and died. So that you could practice your own beliefs.
So, GOD bless them, one and all. Past--present--future. Amen.
~~~~~~~~~~Pamela~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Memorial Day. Current mood: Sad and thoughtful.
Here I go again!!! Glory glory hallelujah, glory glory hallelujah! Glory glory hallelujah! HIS truth is marching on.
Today is "Memorial Day". This day is set aside to remember all those veterans that died, in various wars and police actions, at home and abroad, so that WE could remain free.
I don't know how many of you feel about this, maybe you had someone who died in a war, or in some other horrible way, and you do celebrate this day in honor of them?
Maybe you're the type of person who thinks wars are stupid, and you don't celebrate anything to do with them? Either way. I do, (well, not really) celebrate, but I remember someone that my family lost in a war.
My brother, Robbin Adair Goodwin. When I googled his name, this is the only information I got about him.
Robbin Adair Goodwin
Service ARMY
Rank PFC
City RIVERSIDE
Panel 09 EAST
Line 103
Date of Birth OCTOBER 4TH, 1944
Date of Casualty AUGUST 3RD, 1966
Age 21
He was so much more than these few lines in a list of casualities of the VietNam war though.
When we were young, Robbie was like Superman, Batman, The Road Runner, Captain America, and The Millionaire, all rolled up in one.
We, his younger sister, and brothers-(six of them), thought that he was the greatest, and to our knowledge, he was. I think our two older sisters felt the same way also.
After our daddy died in 1959, Robbie took over watching out for us, he did all kinds of odd jobs, like having a paper route, and being a caddy for the golfers at the local country club.
He always had dimes and quarters to give to us, after we did some little task for him, and we would fight to do stuff for him in any case! He was so cool.
My Mother depended on him alot. When I didn't do my dishes, and would sneak out of the house to go over a friend's place. A few minutes later, there he would be, and all he had to do was stand there and look at me. I went home and did my dishes.
Everybody that we knew liked my brother. He grew into a good person, oh yeah, when he was younger, he played at the same little league park as Bobby Bonds, and Robbie was a way better ball player too.
The Riverside Press newspaper called him, "The Minnie Minoso of the Little League" one year. I don't know if anyone even remembers Minnie Minoso, but I guess he was great in his day, 'cause my brother sure was!!
His funeral was so sad. It was closed coffin. They gave our Mother his Purple Heart medal, and a folded American Flag. He was only 21 years old when he died. He didn't even have to go to VietNam.
People had told my Mom to "plead a hardship", meaning with him being her oldest son, and her having seven children younger than he was, that she needed him to help care for them.
He wouldn't hear of it! He wanted to go to VietNam, so that he could send her more money.
Well he did. $10,000.00 in death benefits. That's what a person is worth to the Army, to the government. Ten thousand dollars.
His name is now "on the Wall", along with the rest of the brave men and women that died in VietNam. So when they had that traveling wall, that went around to all the cities in various states? Our family went out to see it.
You gave a name, and birthdate, (or whatever), and then they gave you a piece of paper with a number on it. You went and found the panel, and searched down it, until you came to "the name" you were looking for.
We stared at his name, and cried, all over again.
Even while I am writing this. I get tight in the throat, and have to blink my eyes to keep from crying. My Daddy died in 1959, my Mother passed in 1971. Yet, nothing makes me feel more sorrow than thinking about my brother, over there, all alone, in a foreign country, dying.
He needs to be remembered, and you better believe that ALL of us do remember him, and not just on Memorial Day, or Veteran's Day, or just on his birthday--October 4th, 1944--either but, everyday that passes, we remember Robbie.
You may not like wars, you may think holidays to honor people who died in them are stupid, and not worth your time, but that's okay, 'cause that is why they went and died. So that you could practice your own beliefs.
So, GOD bless them, one and all. Past--present--future. Amen.
1 Comments:
Well, I got my 'throat tight' too, and actually a tear came out..
I don't like to think that people that die in wars fight for "political ideals" or "for their country"... I've always thought they die for the reason your brother did: For his family.
Prayers for him!
By 
Shadow Walker, at
9:45 PM
