Memorial Day Reminders - Jonathan Voos

On family history, service, and sacrifice

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Memorial Day Reminders

On family history, service, and sacrifice

May 29, 2023

Dear reader,

This Memorial Day, I’d like to provide you with some unsolicited family history. Public service runs in my family. My Papa, George (my dad’s dad), served in Wisconsin, England, and France before getting stationed at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth—only a mile from my current abode. The Air Force later moved him and my Grandma, Joyce, to Randolph Air Force Base in the San Antonio area when my dad was eight. After retiring from the military, he continued his life in public service as a teacher and coach in Schertz before passing in 2015.

Similarly, my Gramps, Jim (my mom’s dad), ended up in San Antonio after serving in Virginia Beach, Germany, and Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. He flew missions over vast stretches of ocean in a war zone despite never learning how to swim—a fact that still blows my mind. At one point, he served on the same ship as his dad—my great-grandfather—who was a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. After retiring from the military, he flew rescue helicopters for Air Evac and still lives in the San Antonio area.

Pictured from left to right: my late Great-Uncle Wayne, my late great-grandfather, and my Gramps, together on my great-grandfather’s ship in Vietnam.

Among my extended family in Texas, my Uncle James, Uncle Tony, and Uncle Hector all served in the military, as did many of my great-uncles. My cousin Jesse currently serves in the Army. Furthermore, on the public service front, my dad teaches and coaches, my mom taught, my late Aunt Sandy taught, my Great-Aunt Dawn teaches, and my Mimi Sandi serves as a police officer. One would not be remiss to say that the blood runs red, white, and blue among the Voos-Talley clan.

Accordingly, Memorial Day always elicits somber gratitude now that I’m old enough to reflect on what it really means. Despite generations of service, my family has been blessed in that we have not seen death on the battlefield. I do not personally know anyone who has lost their life to war and what I feel can’t possibly compare to the grief and sorrow felt by those whose loved ones died in conflict. Still, as I reflect now, I cannot help but be overcome with emotion thinking about the sacrifices heroes have made so that we can live lives of freedom and peace. They paid the ultimate price, and the least we can do as a nation is spend a day honoring their memory.

A small portion of the more than 58,000 names displayed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. circa June 2021.

And, as much as Memorial Day represents a time of somber remembrance, it also reveals something fascinating about the American psyche. In conjunction with our solemn and grave reflections upon the lives of lost heroes and loved ones, we also celebrate our freedom that has come at such a high cost.

During my childhood, my family handled Memorial Day in the most American of fashions—by grilling out at my Gramps’s house by the pool. My siblings and I collectively have fond memories of playing “sharks and minnows,” wall ball, and throwing pool torpedos whilst anticipating the burgers, hot dogs, and sides that awaited us inside (in my brother’s case, eating sides often meant devouring an entire watermelon on his own).

In a few hours, I fully expect the same to occur back home—albeit with a cake because May 29th also is my Gramps’s birthday. I will not share in these celebrations as I’m still in Fort Worth but know that among this gathering of veterans and public servants, the mood will not be one of despair. Rather, Memorial Day will deepen my family’s appreciation for life and bring them closer together.

So, this Memorial Day, I ask that you would take a second to deeply reflect on what the day represents. In doing so, say a prayer for those suffering from pain and grief caused by the loss of loved ones to war. But also, in true American spirit, remember to give thanks and celebrate these departed heroes’ lives and legacies. We truly are blessed to live in this country and I am eternally grateful for all my family members and friends who have served.

With that, I leave you with two songs—“Amazing Grace” on military bagpipes and George Jones’s “50,000 Names Carved in the Wall”—along with two more pictures that serve as beautiful reminders about what our freedom costs. Have a blessed Memorial Day.