In observance of Memorial Day I usually mention my friend Sgt. Ashly Moyer who got killed in the Iraq War back in March of 2007, but this year I'd like to mention a soldier who got killed in Vietnam and whom had a special connection to my family, and someone who could have been my father had circumstances been different.

Long story short, Lance Corporal Robert "Bobby" Monahon had flirted with/dated my mother back in around 1965 when they were both in high school, and had they stayed together even by the time Bobby had enlisted in the Marine Corps the final outcome may have turned out quite different, as with a fiance waiting for him at home Bobby may have been more inclined to avoid "hero" scenarios. We'll never know that for sure, what could have been. By 1966 my mother met a city boy from Allentown who would eventually become my father, and they were wed July 1967 just two months after Bobby got killed in Vietnam. Bobby had an older brother named Jim, and he married my mother's older sister, and my mother had gotten introduced to Bobby through his older brother. Twenty years old is awful young to die like that, and was sure some sacrifice on his part. His memory surely lives on.

To my fellow Americans on here, have a peaceful Memorial Day weekend.