Ultimate Sacrifice of PFC Albert F. Hurtt And Many Others
Public Advocate president Eugene Delgaudio says: "It is a popular salutation to say Happy Memorial Day. It is better to say I hope you had a meaningful Memorial Day. I spent my years as a public official attending solomn Memorial Day ceremonies at the Sterling veterans memorial at 11 am and noted similar ceremonies today in Arlington and other cemetaries all over. Conservative Matt Hurtt wrote me about his father's father who went missing in the Korean War."
Matthew Hurtt writes:
"My father was born on August 16th, 1950, in Clarksville, Tennessee, just a few miles from Fort Campbell, Kentucky - home of The 101st Airborne Division, the "Screaming Eagles," as they're known.
My
dad's
father
-
PFC
Albert
F.
Hurtt
(HQ
Co,
32
Reg,
71D)
-
was
killed
the
morning
of
November
28th,
1950,
along
the
Chosin
Reservoir,
roughly
100
miles
south
of
the
China-North
Korea
Border.
Original
reports
listed
PFC
Hurtt
as
Missing
in
Action
(MIA).
PFC
Hurtt's
unit
was
part
of
Task
Force
McLean,
assigned
to
protect
the
main
supply
route
east
of
the
Chosin
Reservoir
in
North
Korea.
The
Communist
Chinese
80th
Division
attacked
their
positions,
and
they
were
ordered
to
withdraw.
Hurtt
was
Killed
in
Action
while
attempting
to
break
through
a
road
block.
Reports
indicate
that
UN
Forces
were
overwhelmed
by
Chinese
troops
by
a
margin
of
4-to-1
on
the
evening
of
November
27th.
The
battle
lasted
17
days.
All
told,
nearly
5,000
men
went
missing,
many
of
whom
remain
on
the
battlefield
to
this
day
due
to
North
Korea's
unwillingness
to
allow
the
United
States
to
resume
excavation
efforts
to
bring
closure
to
the
families
of
those
who
never
returned.
I
recall
attending
an
official
memorial
service
in
1997
for
PFC
Hurtt
at
Nanney-Hollis
Cemetery
in
Henrietta,
Tennessee,
near
my
grandmother's
house
and
my
father's
childhood
home.
It
was
the
first
time
I
remember
seeing
my
father
cry,
and
I
wondered
how
such
a
strong
figure
in
my
life
could
be
so
broken
by
something
I
didn't
understand.
Years
later,
my
father
took
on
the
crusade
of
finding
out
everything
there
is
to
know
about
what
happened
near
the
Chosin
Reservoir
in
the
early
morning
of
November
28th,
1950.
He
plunged
into
research
and
even
traveled
to
Hawaii
to
see
the
memorial
in
Honolulu.
Due
in-part
to
my
father's
mission,
I
now
routinely
attend
briefings
by
the
Defense
POW/MIA
Accounting
Agency
(DPAA)
regarding
ongoing
efforts
to
reunite
families
with
the
remains
of
their
loved
ones
in
order
to
carry
out
proper
burial
services.
At
my
first-ever
DPAA
briefing
a
decade
ago,
I
was
given
a
folder
of
information,
including
correspondence
between
my
grandmother
and
the
Department
of
the
Army
in
the
weeks
and
months
after
my
grandfather's
disappearance.
And
though
I
can't
imagine
how
my
grandmother
-
who
never
re-married
in
hopes
PFC
Hurtt
would
one
day
return
-
felt,
reading
the
uncertainty
in
her
words
as
she
sought
answers
as
a
young
mother,
I
know
that
many
millions
of
Americans
have
felt
the
same
way.
In
conversations
before
my
first
DPAA
briefing,
my
father
tells
me
he
grew
up
upset
about
the
fact
that
he
never
got
to
meet
or
know
his
father.
As
a
young
boy,
he
didn't
understand
why
other
kids
had
dads
and
he
did
not.
And
on
occasion,
he'll
ask
me
if
he
did
a
good
job
being
a
dad.
He
wonders
because
he
didn't
have
an
example
to
whom
he
could
look.
During
the
beginning
of
the
wars
in
Iraq
and
Afghanistan,
I
remember
my
grandmother
crying
while
watching
news
reports
of
the
invasions.
She
knew
something
I
didn't.
She
knew
the
heartache
many
spouses
and
children
would
feel
as
our
brave
men
and
women
were
killed
in
combat.
And
she
would
re-live
a
more
than
half-century
quest
to
bring
closure
to
the
events
which
took
place
in
the
early
morning
of
November
28th,
1950.
My
grandmother
Lillian
Rebecca
Hurtt,
loving
and
faithful
wife
to
PFC
Albert
F.
Hurtt,
passed
away
last
year
just
a
few
weeks
shy
of
her
97th
birthday,
in
the
care
of
her
son
(my
father)
and
granddaughter
(my
sister).
Lillian
Rebecca
Hurtt's
remains
rest
peacefully
in
Nanney-Hollis
Cemetery
in
Henrietta,
Tennessee,
next
to
a
plot
designated
and
waiting
for
the
remains
of
PFC
Albert
F.
Hurtt.
But
I
know
they
are
reunited
in
heaven
after
nearly
75
years
of
her
patiently
waiting.
We
pause
today
to
honor
and
remember
those
brave
men
and
women
who
fought
and
died
in
defense
of
the
American
ideal
and
for
freedom
across
the
globe,"
Matthew
Hurtt
wrote.
Photo Credit, PFC Albert F. Hurtt and grandson Matthew Hurtt respectively
ACUMEN CONNECTIONS RECOMMENDS THESE PHRASES
Here are fifteen meaningful things you can say this Memorial Day.
- Honoring our nation's heroes on Memorial Day.
- In remembrance of our heroes this Memorial Day.
- Freedom does not come easy. The liberties we enjoy today came from heavy sacrifice.
- Wishing you a beautiful Memorial Day weekend.
- We wish you a meaningful and memorable Memorial Day.
- Wishing you a blessed Memorial Day.
- Freedom doesn't come overnight. Home of the free because of the brave.
- We will remember our fallen service members with pride this Memorial Day.
- Taking a moment this weekend to honor those lost while serving our nation.
- Thinking of those no longer with us.
- Pausing to remember Memorial Day's purpose.
- Bless everyone who is mourning the loss of a loved one today.
- Remembering all our heroes in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our country.
- Never forget the price paid to get the independence we have today.
- To the loved ones we have lost, you're in our hearts and minds. Your service is not forgotten.
All of these are all great wishes for those observing Memorial Day. Find one or two that you like and stick with them.