Memorial Day

[Juggernaut 11,054]

As we take the day off and enjoy our long weekend.

Let's take a moment to honor the reason we "Get the day off"

Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

 

God Bless & Semper Fi

Drew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 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. General John A. Logan

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-B8172- 6403 DLC (b&w film neg.)]

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.

 

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

 

 

 

We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it. Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

 

There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.

 

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

 

The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country.

 

But what may be needed to return the solemn, and even sacred, spirit back to Memorial Day is for a return to its traditional day of observance. Many feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. As the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day address: "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."

 

On January 19, 1999 Senator Inouye introduced bill S 189 to the Senate which proposes to restore the traditional day of observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th instead of "the last Monday in May". On April 19, 1999 Representative Gibbons introduced the bill to the House (H.R. 1474). The bills were referred the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government Reform.

[SuAside 2]

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

- Lawrence Binyon

[MD_Willington 11]

I have my poppy for Armistice Day, Nov 11... I didn't know poppies were considered for Memorial Day too...

 

Great Grand Fathers WW1

 

My mothers grand father captured a German sniper that shot a British Officer, beat the living daylights out of the guy with his bare hands and dragged him kicking and screaming back to the British trench by his hair. The reason he did this was to save his brother, who was to be executed for falling asleep on watch.

 

and

 

Grand Fathers WW2

 

Dad's dad was an MP in Africa, solved most problems with his fists, shot one guy, a thief, in the ass as he scaled a fence.

He was a liked guy, the local tribes took him lion hunting... he liked hunting lions.

 

Mom's dad was a merchant Marine, 3 of his ships were torpedoed in the North Atlantic, two ships by the same German U-boat...

Edited May 23, 2007 by MD_Willington

[loki0629 55]

FYI

There are actually lyrics to Taps. In keeping with the spirit of Juggs thread and in honor of those that didn't come back.

 

 

 

Taps

 

Day is done, gone the sun,

From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;

All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

 

Fading light, dims the sight,

And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.

From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

 

Thanks and praise, for our days,

'Neath the sun, 'neath the stars, neath the sky;

As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

 

Sun has set, shadows come,

Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds

Always true to the promise that they made.

 

While the light fades from sight,

And the stars gleaming rays softly send,

To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend.

[Combat Medic 5]

 

Thank you For your Sacrifices My Friend.......

 

its a couple days short of a year since we lost you. you treated me like a brother

i will never ever forget you!

 

May 29 Mosul Iraq

 

http://www.strykernews.com/archives/2006/0...m_loveless.html

Edited May 25, 2007 by Combat Medic

[jrance@iacwds.com 716]

My Dad flew over the Hump in Burma China as a Gooney Bird Chief Mechanic with the Air Corp. Great Grandfather served honorably in the Civil War (South of course). May we never forget the sacrifices made for us by those we never knew.

 

1911

[flydutch 2]

[kresk 10,063]

This Memorial Day will be of particular significance. My dad passed away just two weeks ago, an eighty year old WWII Navy veteran, awarded the Navy Cross during his service to our country. There are about 1700 WWII vets dying every day. Let us remember all those who have served .

[Juggernaut 11,054]

[mccumber1916 1]

i lost a grandmother on a memorial day a few years back... she was in the navy in WW2... a nurse i believe... and up until she died she still volunteered at the senior center... taking care of her peers

she went on a camping trip with her sister and got stuck in snow here in oregon on memorial day... well past snow season

she went out for help uderdressed.... hypothermiia took hold... she wandered eraticly until she sat on a stump to rest... and that is how the S&R party found her

the irony was that she grew up in alaska... she knew she shouldn't have stepped out of the camper van in polyeste pants and a shortsleeve sweater

 

i haven't worked on a memorial day since... and never will

[G O B 3,516]

Never forget those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Teach your children to appreciate our heros.

[Bvamp 604]

Great Grandfather WW1

 

According to his memoirs,he joined the 22nd regiment of the US Infanty on a whim in january of 1918, and in june 1918, on the 19th, at 0800 hours was called to report to a sgt Bogel of C company, who brought to the local town court, and was given his (and thus my) citizenship by the supreme court of the state of New York. He did not see action.

 

I owe the fact that I am an american to him as well as the US military.

 

He went on to become a Master Cabinetmaker. He died in the fall of 1983

 

His deathbed words include this sentance: "And I have lived in this wonderful land, this America!".

 

 

 

 

Grand Father WW2

 

He was born on the 4th of July in 1925.

 

He served on the USS Arkansas in the US Navy. He loved that ship till the day he died. He boarded her in August of 1943 and served escort duty and was brought up to par and repaired this ship upon each leg of the trips back and forth in the Atlantic.

 

They did convoy duty until june of 44, then he loaded the guns of 1st battery on Dday, all day. When the cease fire order was given that day, the forward part of the wooden cover over the steel decked of the "Arkie" was torn up in splinters. not from enemy hits, but from the concussion or the vacum of the 12" guns' blasts that day. He that night when he left the gun turret, he went to sleep under a tarp, and fell asleep on what he though was a sand bag, and found out when he woke up the next morning it was a dead shipmate's body. He never spoke of June 6th other than he was there because of this, I am pretty sure. This is also out of my great-grandfather's memoirs.

 

The Arkie then went to Southern France and supported the invasion there.

 

When She (with my grandpa aboard her) went to the pacific, they fired 3399 rounds of all calibers at Iwo Jima. Grandpa saw the flag on Mount Suribachi shortly after it flew.

 

At Okinawa, they fired 2646 12" shells, 3240 5" shells, and 2835 rounds of anti-aircraft shells.

 

He spoke about the kamakazis very vividly to me once when I asked and asked me to listen carefully, because he would not repeat it again, and always got quiet when watching WW2 pacific war footage. He doubled during the pacific campaign as a 40mm bofur loader when the big guns werent firing, and the ship took a few hits in the pacific campaign from kamakazis. He spoke VERY bady of Japaneese for most of his life when I knew him. "grampah" would not eat in the same room with a Japanese born, or citizen, till the day that he died. The atom bomb SHOULD HAVE BEEN DROPPED.

 

The USS Arkansas now rests upside down on the ocean floor at bikini atoll, where it was used for the first two tests after WW2 of the atomic bomb. Engineers think it is still seaworthy, and that it only sank after the second detonation because the wall of water (VERY famous bomb tests, you can even see his ship in the footage of both blasts) in the second test capsized the ship and impaled it inverted into the ocean floor. The ship was 36 years old. My grandfather was proud of her, its crew, its record, and the fact that he served in 5 campaigns aboard her in WW2, although he never boasted about that part.

 

He was a Master Mason, and died when he arrived for work to lay glass block last winter. He could still crack a single walnut with his fist. Very powerful man. Part of his ashes is interred with his fellow shipmate's remains, as we know he would have wanted. We were unable to secure a burial at sea of his remains in the bikini atoll by an expert diver, but it is forbidden to do so, or have part of his ashes scattered at sea. My uncle hasnt come to full grips with his death still, and will not allow us to scatter him off montauk point yet. Grandpa wanted this, and it will happen when my Uncle is ready, as we will not do it without him.

 

 

 

 

Both of them were extremely patriotic, and would probably hand you your heart if they ever caught you burning their flag, as would I.

 

 

 

ALL the men and women that have served including my family members, living and dead, are remembered always by my family and our friends, especially on memorial day.

 

the "Arkie" was the direct target of "Able" and "Baker" blasts for operation "crossroads, immediately following WW2, which were the 4th and 5th atomic blasts ever recorded in human history. There was NM, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and then these two, the second of which finally sunk the "Arkie", along with the Saratoga. It is a shame at how many ships and other decorated units did not survive us plowing our swords to plowshares after ww2, the Enterprise included. At least the "Arkie" lays upside down in bikini atoll. It was undefeatable, but it is truely an undeserved fate.

[getitat 609]

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

- Lawrence Binyon

 

Hello, SuA

One of the few posts from you that I'm certain everybody can relate to, my friend....Most excellent!

 

Respectfully, as always...

guido2 in Houston

[getitat 609]

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Howdy all. Happy Memorial Day. May we all remember ALL who have served and are still serving and take today to remember especially those who payed the ultimate price for OUR freedom.

Taking all the Saigas out today to let them ring!

[G O B 3,516]

Today is for rememberance.

[d0lphin2 0]

-->

QUOTE(G O B @ May 28 2007, 07:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Today is for rememberance.

 

Thank all of you that have served or are active duty. I was out yesterday and there was a kid probably now more that 20 dressed in a formal militay uniform and it was nice to see the amount of people stopping to shake his hand. You could see the pride in his face. My hat is off to all of you on this memorial day!

 

John

[Bvamp 604]

scroll up, happy birthday, grandpa! I will never forget.

[Bvamp 604]

Here's to the boys, men, girls, and women that have died for this country, and its causes or defense.

[Boba Debt 350]

"I'm not a hero, the heros are the ones that didn't come back"

 

This was a quote from a WWII vet on the Laura Ingraham show.

Edited May 30, 2011 by Boba Debt

[BpS12 512]

I've got more family that served in the military than I can recount here. From a "Grand" Uncle who served, iirc, in the Frech Indian War, to Grandfathers, uncles and cousins in every branch. Including my Stepfather who passed on this last fall.

 

I honor them all, both for their sevice and sacrifice to this country and for rolls within my family line. They were a driving force of my enlistment and service.

 

Heilsen! for ALL our fallen.

[patriot 7,197]

It always makes me sad. America is dying...one hero at a time.

 

 

 

 

Rest in peace, my brothers.

(reposted from the Patriot Post)

 

 

"They fought together as brothers-in-arms, they died together, and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation." --Admiral Chester Nimitz

 

The American Soldier

 

"[W]hat sort of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave? Are they capable of victory? Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man-at-arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefield many, many years ago, and has never changed. I regarded him then as I regard him now -- as one of the world's noblest figures, not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless. His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give. ... [W]hen I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements. In twenty campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand campfires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people. From one end of the world to the other he has drained deep the chalice of courage. I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. Always for them: Duty, Honor, County; always their blood and sweat and tears, as we sought the way and the light and the truth." --General Douglas MacArthur

 

 

 

The Gipper

 

 

 

"Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which [General] Matthew Ridgway listened: 'I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.' Strengthened by their courage and heartened by their valor and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died." --President Ronald Reagan, 40th anniversary of D-Day, Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France, June 6, 1984

 

 

 

The Last Word

 

 

 

"Lord, guard and guide the men who fly

And those who on the ocean ply;

Be with our troops upon the land,

And all who for their country stand:

Be with these guardians day and night

And may their trust be in Thy might." --Author Unknown, 1955

Edited May 30, 2011 by patriot