Today kicks off the Memorial Day weekend for a lot of us in America. SS Hampton, Sr. is an author, but today he addresses his Veteran persona. He shares the meaning of the holiday as well as a bio about him. Yes, he is a VETERAN! Here are his thoughts on the day that pays tribute to those who have defended our country.
Today is Memorial Day. It is a 3-day weekend for much of the country—a weekend of family get-togethers, BBQs, and great sales. That is fine.
But please do not forget the real meaning of Memorial Day.
Though there had been several local observances, a national Decoration Day was
created by “an organization of Union veterans” on 5 May 1868, to be observed on
30 May of that year by the nation in “decorating
the graves of war dead with flowers.”
Unfortunately, the world is not a safe and secure place.
Yet, we know that in our nation there will never be a shortage of uniformed
volunteers willing to stand between unarmed men, women, and innocent children,
and the senseless evil in the world.
On Memorial Day this year remember the “National Moment of
Remembrance”—at 3:00 PM local time across the country, everyone is encouraged
to take a moment to reflect on those who have given their lives for our
country. Whatever war they fought in, all of those who made the ultimate
sacrifice have names, whether those names loom large in history books or are
known only to their families.
And some of us know the names of comrades who made that
sacrifice during the GWOT.
Finally, if you have never heard Taps,
the final farewell to fallen comrades, take a moment to listen. Take a moment
to remember, and to whisper, “Good bye. And thank you.”
SS Hampton, Sr. is a full-blood Choctaw
of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a divorced grandfather to 13 wonderful
grandchildren, and a published photographer and photojournalist. He retired on
1 July 2013 from the Army National Guard with the rank of Sergeant First Class;
he previously served in the active duty Army (1974-1985), the Army Individual
Ready Reserve (1985-1995) (mobilized for the Persian Gulf War), and enlisted in
the Nevada Army National Guard in October 2004, after which he was mobilized
for Federal active duty for almost three years. Hampton is a veteran of
Operations Noble Eagle (2004-2006) and Iraqi Freedom (2006-2007) with
deployment to northern Kuwait and several convoy security missions into Iraq.
He has had two solo photographic exhibitions and curated a
third. His writings have appeared as stand-alone stories and in anthologies
from Dark Opus Press, Edge Science Fiction & Fantasy, Melange Books,
Musa Publishing, MuseItUp Publishing, Ravenous Romance, and as stand-alone
stories in Horror Bound Magazine, The Harrow, and River Walk Journal, among others.
In May 2014 he graduated from the College of Southern Nevada
with an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Photography – Commercial
Photography Emphasis. A future goal is to study for a degree in
archaeology—hopefully to someday work in and photograph underwater archaeology
(and also learning to paint). He is currently enrolled as an art student at
University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
As of April 2014, after being in a 2-year Veterans
Administration program for Homeless Veterans, Hampton is officially no longer a
homeless Iraq War veteran.
Hampton can be found at:
Dark Opus
Press - Edge
Science Fiction & Fantasy Publishing -
Melange
Books - Amazon Author Page - Amazon UK
1 comment:
Lizzie,
Thank you for this opportunity. Have a great week!
Stan
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