05/24/2026
Thoughts from a combat vet this memorial day.
Pictures are of the daily argument my little brother Jared Best and I had for months before he lost his war with PTSD. Question: who wins in a death match, Charlie Brown and Snoopy or Piglet and Poo? Answer: I have CB and the Snoop tattooed on my arm so my pick is obvious and obviously the only correct answer! 😆 🤣
Don't say "happy Memorial Day" instead say "I appreciate your brothers and sisters sacrifice"
To everyone who tells us "thank you for your service" on memorial day. We do appreciate the thought behind your words, however, from our perspective it is hard to swallow your gratitude. Especially on this day.
Memorial Day is a day veterans remember our brothers ans sisters that were lost. Please dont thank me for my failure. My failure to do more, worked harder, been better, to have seen what no one could have seen, to have been somewhere I wasn't, to have just listened a little more to what my brother was telling me. On this day every combat veteran suffers unspeakable regret, shame, and "what if" thoughts. Thoughts and feelings we in no way deserve to to have or carry. But we do none the less. Because it is who we are. It is what we were trained to do.
For me personally, Memorial Day brings an onslaught of memories I do not welcome. Memories of brothers lost in combat including my own little brother, lost to the aftermath of combat. The weight of my failures always feels crushing on this day. Even more than every other day I wake up.
This is a sacred day for me and other veterans. While we truly appreciate your gratitude, our thoughts are far away and distant this weekend. The struggle to comprehend the loss we have endured takes most of our mental energy. For this veteran, writing the names of men and women I have personally known and lost, who gave their life in service to this country would take more room than this entire post.
I have zero regrets about the decision I made. The things I have seen, the brothers I made, the experiences and the lessons I learned...those things cannot be quantified in words. The loss that experienced however? There have been no words created nor will words ever be created that can begain to express that amount of loss. Knowing the amount off loss I have experienced, would I do it again? I honestly can't answer that question, but I refuse to regret decisions already made.
Be thankful to your veterans this weekend, but please don't thank us. A hug, handshake, and simple recognition of our loss is all we need and more than any of feels we deserve.
And to all my fellow veterans, I see you. I feel your loss and your pain. I am proud of you for making the hard decision to still be standing. It is a decision I can say I have honestly struggled with, to keep going even when I just wanted nothing more than to tap out. And I have bèen closer to that point than all but a couple people know.
So if you are still standing here with me than you have my undying respect because to stay standing is one of the hardest things I have ever done. One day that decision will get easier but until then I will just put one foot in fronr of the other. Look to the dawn and make it one more night. I do this to honor those who gave everything. To honor those who lost their fight, in combat or the fight after combat.
You will be forever missed, but never forgotten little bro.
