Posted on 05/24/2015 5:35:55 AM PDT by statestreet
ARLINGTON, Va.
The perfect symmetry of alabaster headstones, majestically holding formation along this national cemetery's pastoral hills, reminds you that our soldiers are sentinels guarding our republic, even in death.
On a sunny spring day, a lone figure held a tiny flag blowing vigorously in the wind as he knelt before a headstone. He held a conversation with a lost service member, perhaps a son or daughter, alternating between amusement and grief.
Taps played from off in the distance.
Only the heartless could fail to be touched by the raw emotion of that moment or by the somber presence of all of these soldiers who died serving our nation through the ages.
Tomorrow is the day that we as a country honor Americans who put their lives and their loves on hold, stepped forward to say “Send me, I will go,” and never came back.
Memorial Day began as Decoration Day immediately following the Civil War to give tribute to the 620,000 soldiers who died in that carnage, according to historian David Pietrusza.
(Excerpt) Read more at triblive.com ...
The James John Regan whose tombstone is in the picture was killed Feb. 9, 2007 by an IED during Iraqi Freedom. He was a Ranger. I suspect the distraught young lady is his fiance, Mary McHugh or one of his three sisters.
I mention these things not to intrude on anyone’s private grief or out of any morbid curiosity, but to point out — to myself as much as anyone — that these are not just marble markers —gardens of stone — but the final resting places of very real Americans who risked the pain and sacrifice necessary to keep our land our own.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
In humble gratitude to all of you, from an unworthy beneficiary ...
What pride you must feel ...
I do, and they did a great job of honoring his service. I am grateful to the stewards of Arlington and the Honor Guards for that.
Well said. There is a host of people behind all of those stones.
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