Let Us Remember (The Real Memorial Day) 05-30-02

The History Channel, Billie, various ^

[Billie]

Let Us Remember........

Memorial Day is much more than a three-day weekend that marks the beginning of summer. To many people, especially the nation's thousands of combat veterans, this day, which has a history stretching back all the way to the Civil War, is an important reminder of those who died in the service of their country.

"Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain.
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am the morning hush.
I am the graceful rush
of beautiful birds in circling flight.
I am the star shine of the night.
I am the flowers that bloom.
I am in a quiet room.
I am the birds that sing.
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die."
~Mary Frye, Baltimore MD, Circa 1933

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was first widely observed on May 30,1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that:

The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

During the first celebration of Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.

This 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances of the day in several towns throughout America that had taken place in the three years since the Civil War. In fact, several Northern and Southern cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois.

In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

By the late 1800s, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day and, after World War I, observances also began to honor those who had died in all of America's wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. (Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor all veterans, living and dead, is celebrated each year on November 11.)

Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Also, it is customary for the president or vice-president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and lay a wreath at the Tomb of
                         the Unknown Soldier. About 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually.

Several Southern states continue to set aside a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day:

• Mississippi: Last Monday in April
• Alabama: Fourth Monday in April
• Georgia: April 26
• North Carolina: May 10
• South Carolina: May 10
• Louisiana: June 3
• Tennessee (Confederate Decoration Day): June 3
• Texas (Confederate Heroes Day): January 19
• Virginia: Last Monday in May

Although Memorial Day is set aside to honor those that have fallen, I wanted to take a moment and thank each and every person who has served our country in both war and in peace, as well as those who are serving to protect our freedom now.

Probably the largest number of our FReeper Veterans are Vietnam Vets, and many of them didn't experience a heros' welcome, with parades and flags and banners, when they returned. I wish we could make it up to all of them.


One of the FReepers who served during Vietnam also had a twin brother who joined about the same time, but in different branches, and I thought it would be fun to show them as they looked in their respective uniforms thirty-something years ago. (I asked Dave to send me some pictures, but he didn't know how I planned to use them or that I was going to sketch them instead.)

Thank you, Diver Dave, U.S. Navy, and your twin brother, Don, U.S. Marine Corp. We salute you, and we are so glad you both came home to your families.

         

This song was written by Tom T. Hall in 1964, and recorded by Johnny Wright, husband of Country Music singer Kitty Wells. For all those who served in Vietnam,
and left behind loved ones, this song's for you. Thank you for going; thank you for fighting, thank you for enduring the Hell and the horror that was.....Vietnam.

GOODBYE MY DARLIN' HELLO VIETNAM

Kiss me goodbye and write me when you can.
Goodbye my darlin', hello Vietnam.
America has heard the bugle call,
And you know it involves us one and all.
A ship is waitin' at the dock,
America has trouble to be stopped.
We must stop Communism in that land,
or freedom will start slippin' through our hand.
I hope and pray someday the world will learn
That fires we don't put out will bigger burn.
We must save freedom now at any cost,
or someday our freedom will be lost.

Kiss me goodbye and write me when you can.
Goodbye my darlin' hello Vietnam



Click on the graphic for a tribute to many of FR's Veterans and Active Military.

[Billie]

Thanks for posting the link to it, Tonk. I've always said "Taps" is the saddest song I've ever heard....EVER.

[blackie]

Great thread Billie !!

Lest We Forget!!

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"I've always said "Taps" is the saddest song I've ever heard"

One of the highlights of the local Memorial Day service at the VFW in Bandon on Monday
was a WWII Marine Vet Playing taps.
He 1st played taps as a Marine in 1940.

Thank You for this thread in honor of All who died for our Freedom.

[lodwick]

RIP Unknown Soldier
Tennessee Cemetary

[lodwick]

Marietta National Cemetery

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men,
living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it
far above our poor power to add or detract.

Abraham Lincoln

[lodwick]

Long May She Wave

[kassie]

Great job.

[lodwick]

[lodwick]

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

The 30th of May, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

[OldFriend]

And so we reap what was sown by the elitist left. The tragedy continues.....with more lives lost and the left continuing on with their crusade to destroy everything good about America.

We only hope and pray that the good American people see where the danger lies and remember what this country has meant to the entire world.

[headsonpikes]

"A man is not dead until he is forgotten."

Memorial bump.

[Billie]

Hi, blackie, thank you for coming today. Hope you're having a great day.

[Billie]

Wish I could have heard that WW II vet playing Taps.

[Billie]

Thank you, kassie.

[Billie]

Thank you, OldFriend. I like your screenname - don't know if I've told you before. :) We need all the friends we can get, old or new. :)

[Billie]

Thank you for the bump and the remembrance.

[Billie]

I like every one of these graphics. You don't have to stop, you know. :)

[lodwick]

;-) Hello again - I got to feeling like a bandwidth hog, plus there's TheList that has to be dealt with. Glad you enjoyed the pics: I surely had a fine time searching for them. There is so much info on this wonderful internet!

Your LadyLiberty t-shirt got lot'sa love at the Costco check-out line. See you later. JL

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

Thank You Billie,

Although this has probably been posted many times,
I can think of no better thread to re-post it to than this one.
Hope you don't mind:

WHAT IS A VET
by Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking.

What is a vet?

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She or he-is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another-or didn't come back AT ALL.

He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat-but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket-palsied now and aggravatingly slow-who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being-a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU."

"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag."