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FReeper Canteen ~ Memorial Day 2008 ~ 26 May 08
Serving The Best Troops And Veterans In The World | StarCMC and GI Joe

Posted on 05/25/2008 5:00:15 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska


 

 
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The FReeper Canteen
Observes

------------------------
Memorial
Day
2008
------------------------

 

History

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet (see below) carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

More history here.

 

 

 

 

Poetry & SONG


MEMORIAL DAY.


In distant field of sunny France
Where strangers come and go,
Amid the farms of Flanders, where
The fragrant breezes blow,
Our soldier-dead in quiet sleep
'Neath crosses row on row.

Here shrapnel shells once shrieked and burst
And took their toll of death;
The very wind, itself a foe,
Bore poison on its breath.

Above their graves the birds now sing
As round that home of yore,
When, carefree boys, they romped and played;
Those childhood days soon o’er,
The boys to brave and strong men grown,
They romped and played no more.

They put aside their childish toys,
A man’s work each must do,
And when their country called for them,
To her they answered true.

"We must protect our native land:
She shall not suffer wrong
For she has reared and nurtured us,
We’re men and we are strong.
We’ll bid good-by to those we love;
It will not be for long."

With aching hearts and tear-dimmed eyes
We watched them go away.
Some have returned but many sleep
In foreign lands today.

Where English roses bloom and fade,
In France where lilies grow,
Among the fields of Flanders, where
The scarlet poppies blow,
Our soldier-dead are not forgot
Though strangers come and go.

~By Eula Gladys Lincoln~

 

America the Beautiful - 1913

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America ! America !
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life !
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

 

 

 

 

 

Links to redrock's
Memorial Day Threads from 2006

"We Can Be Heroes.....Just For One Day"
MEMORIAL DAY --Thread # 1


"Just Another Drunk Indian..."
MEMORIAL DAY--Thread # 2


"Chocolate Chip Cookies"
MEMORIAL DAY --Thread # 3


"Hey...Do Ya Wanna Hear a Polish Joke???"
MEMORIAL DAY --Thread # 4

 

"Remember...What We Owe.."
MEMORIAL DAY --Thread# 5

 



 

 

 

Remember! width=

 

"Kneel Where Our Loves Are Sleeping
Words by G.W.R.
Music by Mrs. L. Nella Sweet


Kneel where our loves are sleeping, Dear ones days gone by,
Here we bow in holy reverence, Our bosoms heave the heartfelt sigh.
They fell like brave men, true as steel, And pour’d their blood like rain,
We feel we owe them all we have, And can but weep and kneel again.
CHORUS
Kneel where our loves are sleeping, They lost but still were good and true,
Our fathers, brothers fell still fighting, We weep, ‘tis all that we can do.

VERSE 2:
Here we find our noble dead, Their spirits soar’d to him above,
Rest they now about his throne, For God is mercy, God is love.
Then let us pray that we may live, As pure and good as they have been,
That dying we may ask of him, To open the gate and let us in.
CHORUS
Kneel where our loves are sleeping, They lost but still were good and true,
Our fathers, brothers fell still fighting, We weep, ‘tis all that we can do."

 

 

 

 



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Free Republic
KEYWORDS: canteen; freepercanteen; memorialday; military; troopsupport
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To: TASMANIANRED

You amaze me!

You always seem to be working!


61 posted on 05/25/2008 6:03:37 PM PDT by Randy Larsen (Arrogance IS my virtue!)
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To: PROCON
And then comes Late.....snagging the silver!!


62 posted on 05/25/2008 6:04:39 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: Kathy in Alaska
God bless all who have or are serving this country!



63 posted on 05/25/2008 6:06:01 PM PDT by MeekMom (Present your bodies a living sacrifice to God.)
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To: SandRat

I enjoyed your post about “your boys”.


64 posted on 05/25/2008 6:07:08 PM PDT by MEG33 (God Bless Our Military)
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To: MS.BEHAVIN
And rounding out the top 3.......ms b!


65 posted on 05/25/2008 6:07:49 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: BIGLOOK

Evening BigLook.


66 posted on 05/25/2008 6:09:08 PM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: Randy Larsen

Seems like that to me too....


67 posted on 05/25/2008 6:09:33 PM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: All
To any and all who have served our country...



68 posted on 05/25/2008 6:09:57 PM PDT by MeekMom (Present your bodies a living sacrifice to God.)
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To: MeekMom

Evening Meeky. Hugs.


69 posted on 05/25/2008 6:10:09 PM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: TASMANIANRED
Aloha Taz!

Wishing you a wonderful long weekend.
70 posted on 05/25/2008 6:11:50 PM PDT by BIGLOOK
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To: Kathy in Alaska; laurenmarlowe; MEG33; Mrs.Nooseman; alfa6; SandRat; HopeandGlory; EsmeraldaA; ...

Greetings to all Canteen Denizens, Our Serving Military, Our Veterans, Their Families, FRiends and Our Allies!





Missing Man Setting


71 posted on 05/25/2008 6:13:24 PM PDT by ConorMacNessa (HM/2 USN, 3/5 Marines, RVN 1969. St. Peregrine, patron saint of cancer patients, pray for us.)
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To: GulfWar1Vet

72 posted on 05/25/2008 6:16:49 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Whoohoo!!


73 posted on 05/25/2008 6:19:04 PM PDT by GulfWar1Vet (Maranatha!)
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To: Kathy in Alaska; All
My Grandfather spent WWII in Burma

He survived that, but we lost him to pancreatic cancer a few years back

74 posted on 05/25/2008 6:21:24 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Annyonghashimnika, KIA!


75 posted on 05/25/2008 6:21:50 PM PDT by Tamar1973 (Catch the Korean Wave, one Bae Yong Joon film at a time!)
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To: BIGLOOK

Thanks...hasn’t been a bad weekend to work at all..


76 posted on 05/25/2008 6:22:31 PM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: ConorMacNessa

Evening Mac...


77 posted on 05/25/2008 6:22:54 PM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: ConorMacNessa
Thanks, Mac, for the Missing Man Setting as we remember those who have given their all that we may gather safe and secure.
78 posted on 05/25/2008 6:23:15 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: mylife
Thanks to your Grandfather for his service to our country.


79 posted on 05/25/2008 6:27:18 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: Kathy in Alaska

A tip of the hat to all the vets, but particularly those no longer with us who served in faraway places with little glory and lots of sweat.


80 posted on 05/25/2008 6:30:31 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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