This Memorial Day, we want to pause and remember those military members we lost while they served our country.
Personally, I lost my Uncle John (Kreckel) in Vietnam when I was just a child. I remember that time….the hushed phone conversations between my mom and and grandma. The pain the entire family went through. The stay at my aunt and uncle’s house because my mom was grieving. The acknowledgement that something significant had happened even recognized by my just 5 years of age.
My uncle received the Distinguished Service Cross for his valor because under intense fire, he left cover to save his friend. (https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/5274). This was a story told many times by my family with respect and reverence for what my uncle did on that day on the hill.
Fort Campbell, KY has an academy dedicated in his name, and as a young teenager, I remember the entire family taking the trip to Kentucky to be part of this moving and meaningful ceremony.
So today, I just want to honor and bring remembrance to an uncle I really never had the chance to know. His friend is alive today because of his valor, and even here almost 50 years later, his actions on that day reverberate and define the kind of man he was.
JOHN WILLIAM KRECKEL
