JOHN LUCAS: Preparation and Reflections for Memorial Day 2026. “As Garney’s last “Blue” platoon leader, I was scant feet away from him when he was killed. I carried his body to an evacuation helicopter that was able to descend through a small opening in the trees. By 2018, I had learned where Garney was interred. On that Memorial Day I made the trip from Knoxville, Tennessee, to my fallen soldier’s gravesite. I was a bit distressed, to put it mildly, at what I found at the church and cemetery.”

Plus: “My successor also was wounded very seriously after a relatively short time as Blue. Thus, I was the only one of the (at least) five Blue leaders from B/1//9 Cavalry in 1970-71 who was not ‘evacuated on a stretcher.’ Reflect on that casualty rate as you think about our servicemembers this Memorial Day. ”