“My cousin Frankie”
posted at 5:58 pm on August 26, 2007 by Allahpundit
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You’ll cry, but don’t let that stop you. Unforgettable.
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Thank you Allahpundit.
Theworldisnotenough on August 26, 2007 at 6:13 PM
That was worth the crocodile tears I just shed. Thanks for sharing, AP.
pullingmyhairout on August 26, 2007 at 6:18 PM
What a moving piece, resonate with purpose. Service with honor – Thank you sir.
Spirit of 1776 on August 26, 2007 at 6:20 PM
I didn’t let it stop me.
Harpoon on August 26, 2007 at 6:20 PM
And that is a reality check! Thank-you!
Pam on August 26, 2007 at 6:37 PM
PFC Richard Allen Kaske “The Memorial Wall” My Friend.
Texyank on August 26, 2007 at 6:40 PM
I didn’t let it stop me either, even though having turned 18 in 1979 and being a military brat myself I saw this story played out many many times. Sometimes Franky was one of my childhood friends older brother, sometimes he was their father.
No I’m not Mario, or anything like him. I’m just a guy who the military found physically incompatible with service. But I have a great respect for the Franky’s and Mario’s this nation has produced. They remind me why this nation is so great. They remind me why I love this great nation so much.
So yea I am just a guy who plays guitar, who cant hold a candle to the Franky’s and Mario’s out there. I’m just a guy who never forgets that people like Franky and Mario make that possible. And that why I support our troops unconditionally.
Thank you Franky, thank you Mario, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
doriangrey on August 26, 2007 at 6:45 PM
Cry? Oh, yeah.
“Godspeed to all of the American fighting men and women who serve our great country today!”
Amen.
Nichevo on August 26, 2007 at 6:55 PM
PFC Richard Allen Kaske “The Memorial Wall” My Friend.
That’s Richard Allan Kaske. . Sorry Rich.
Texyank on August 26, 2007 at 6:55 PM
Alan.
I quit. . . .
Texyank on August 26, 2007 at 6:56 PM
Wow. Thanks so much AP.
Kowboy on August 26, 2007 at 7:05 PM
Thank God for the heroes that protect us and our families.
Hening on August 26, 2007 at 7:08 PM
I was a child during WW2(yes I’m that old). I remember the gold stars going up in the windows around town(occasionally 2). The women would go over and just sit in the parlor with that woman for hours, days, weeks , if necessary. They seldom spoke, just sat there doing something quiet. At the time, the full impact of what was happening did not reach me. Now tears come to my eyes when I remember.
jeanie on August 26, 2007 at 7:23 PM
“Do not mourn that such men died, but thank God that they lived.” -Patton.
profitsbeard on August 26, 2007 at 7:27 PM
Thanks, AP, for making my mascara run.
It was worth it.
Kimmer on August 26, 2007 at 7:34 PM
We must always continue to honor those who have sacrificed to give us our freedom. Thank you for this story Allahpundit!
dawgyear on August 26, 2007 at 7:34 PM
Texyank on August 26, 2007 at 6:56 PM
It’s ok Tex, there was probably something in your eye…
doriangrey on August 26, 2007 at 7:36 PM
No more truer words.
/wiping tears
NORBZ1 on August 26, 2007 at 7:37 PM
My cousin Vic. This post is sureal. Excuse me if I don’t well up you see I have also lost a cousin fourty years ago in Vietnam. He too was KIA from a mine. He too was point man in a recon mission. I too miss him and won’t forget MY cousin Victor A. Spadaro Click the information link.
sonnyspats1 on August 26, 2007 at 8:04 PM
My cousin Vic revisited.
sonnyspats1 on August 26, 2007 at 8:07 PM
Disregard the previous link to Vic revisited Victor A Spadaro can be found here and remembered with cousin Frankie and all fallen US soldiers. Humor me just this once.
sonnyspats1 on August 26, 2007 at 8:16 PM
Yep ! Thanks doriangrey, And Thanks AP for that post
It’s beeen a long time since I thought of my freind.
Toooo Long.
Texyank on August 26, 2007 at 9:28 PM
My mother grew up in a large farm family in rural Kentucky. She was the youngest of 12 and had 10 brothers. In WWII 9 of the Patrick boys were serving in various services in every theater of the war.
When I was a kid, I remember sitting with my grandmother looking through the family scrapbook and like most boys, was in awe of anything military. She would proudly show me the star banners that hung in their window, one for each son.
I also recall how proud she was of each of them and how to her it was nothing unusual that her sons had done their duty. To her, she was just one mom of many with sons “overseas”. There was never any doubt they had a job to do and anything short of finishing it would be unacceptable.
My mom was only 14 or so in 1944. Her brother, Pfc James Edward Patrick was serving with the 331st infantry, 83rd division assigned to Patton’s 3rd Army. They landed on Omaha beach on DDay +10. Over the next weeks, they saw some of the most brutal combat in St. Lo and St. Milo. James was killed in action on August 12, 1944.
Mom still recalls the day the telegram came with the news. The appearance of the car on the long dirt road leading to the house was immediately seen for what it was. The news from the War Department of one more boy who wouldn’t be coming home. Fortunately, my other 8 uncles all made it home without a scratch.
When asked about the “War” when I was a kid, they would all just say it was something they had to do. No big deal, you know?
God Bless them and the millions who have served and are still there for us. We owe them all more than can ever be repaid.
BacaDog on August 26, 2007 at 9:52 PM
“Mama”
As a mother, that’s where I lost it.
jjjen on August 26, 2007 at 10:10 PM
Thank you for this feed. For years I couldn’t understand why I came back from Nam and the Frankys didn’t. I could say I was wounded and a Marine but couldn’t justify my existence. Having read this and reading the subsequent posts, I can put the angst to rest. Franky, Semper Fidelis! Semper Fraternus!
MNDavenotPC on August 26, 2007 at 10:37 PM
My apology Frankie not Franky
MNDavenotPC on August 26, 2007 at 10:47 PM
Any guy who cries is a good guy. Us ladies cry a lot, for us and the world.
Thanks AP for being so touched and for sharing this story with us.
All Soldiers, past and present, are better than all of us. Thank you for keeping us free and for granting us the option to be good or silly. You and your families give the utmost of yourselves and most of us take you for granted at best. At worst you deal with the scum of this Earth, including the ones here in your/our country. Stories like this should be in the papers and on TV daily. At least they should abound. But you don’t complain. You just carry on. The families suffer quietly and decently, away from the media. Years later, at best, we read something as moving as this article. We don’t deserve this much, and yet you keep on serving with minimum complaints. Our times are completely backwards.
Regarding the call for “mama” or “mother” upon death, is a well reported phenomenon from all wars. If only Frankie’s mother would have known before her death…
Thank you all Soldiers! Thank you!
Entelechy on August 26, 2007 at 11:28 PM
I don’t mean to be argumentative; just want to put my $0.02 in.
Men are different from women. It is not a character defect that leads men to react stoically or angrily to things that make women cry. If men cried at the same things as women, just think how many great accomplishments throughout history would never have been attempted.
I am not saying men are better because they don’t cry as much as women. The world needs real men and real women. The world would be a horrible place if men idealized and attempted to emulate female attributes, and vice-versa. (Unfortunately, to some degree that is already the case.)
One may presume that I consider myself to be a “man’s man” and regard tears as a sign of weakness. I do not. The story of Frankie got my tears flowing, and I’m not ashamed of that. But there are plenty of things that get my wife emotional yet affect me slightly if at all. That fact is not evidence that I’m stifling my emotions, need to get in touch with my feelings, etc. It is merely evidence that I am not a woman.
Regarding the story of Frankie, it is difficult for me, a parent, to imagine the grief of losing a child in war. It’s too painful even to think about for very long. My gratitude to those in our armed forces (and their families) swells every time I read a story about a fallen soldier. I make a point of teaching my daughters to appreciate all the soldiers & sailors who protect our nation. On Memorial Day this year, my 7-year-old daughter spontaneously drew a picture of herself saluting the American flag. Above it, she wrote “Thank you brave soldiers”. Then she handed it to a Marine vet who was selling flowers outside a grocery store, and gave him a hug. My tears flowed then, too.
Splashman on August 27, 2007 at 2:43 AM
Thank you AP. This article did hit home to me also. I lost an uncle in Phu Bi in 1967. He was a career Marine, having gone through the Korean conflict, Dominican Republic affair, and finally Vietnam. He was only there one week when he was hit by a mortar. Some of his fellow Marines picked him up and carried him into a bunker, but it was too late.
He is missed, but his memory lives on.
Texas Nick 77 on August 27, 2007 at 6:36 AM
Wonderful post. The stories of our amazing American servicemen and women always put life into perspective. May we all lives our lives in such a way that their sacrifices are not in vain.
Redhead Infidel on August 27, 2007 at 11:54 AM
If you don’t know someone to remember when you salute the flag or cast your vote, remember Frankie. Men like him gave all, and we benefit.
We live in days they could have seen. We are the country they loved that much. We can do better.
NellE on August 27, 2007 at 1:30 PM
NellE
I couldn’t have said it better.
MNDavenotPC on August 27, 2007 at 2:37 PM
No words. No words, other than Thanks.
Miss_Anthrope on August 27, 2007 at 4:27 PM
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