And I’m proud to be an American,
Where at least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died,
Who gave that right to me
- Lee Greenwood
Songwriter, “God Bless the U.S.A.”
We haven’t done a trackback in a long time. If you would like to participate all you do is write about Memorial Day Weekend on your blog, what you have planned, what it means to you, and link back to this exact posting URL. I will start to list your blogs below starting with the blog that gave me the idea to begin with..
2.) Off Topic: Memorial Day Weekend
3.) Remember What the Party is For
4.) In Memory
5.) Honoring Our Heroes This Memorial Day
6.) Memorial Day
7.) The next Trackback will go here
8.) And then the next blog here
I can never say enough in appreciation for our veterans, especially the fallen. I reflect on that daily, but no time is more pertinent than Memorial Day. Nothing more than the sacrifice of our past and current veterans makes me prouder to be an American.
I thank both of my grandfathers, veterans of WWII. I never knew one since he died when I was two years old, though the other told me the story of his war. It was extremely moving and I learned more about him than I had ever known before. I thank all of my relatives who have been veterans as well as all who I have met.
Veterans of all nations should be honored as well. I recently read about a story about the aftermath of the attack at Pearl Harbor. Hundreds of Americans gathered at a cemetery in Oahu to honor fallen Americans. Several Japanese pilots who had died in the attack were buried somewhat close by in a communal grave. Only one woman (out of everyone) went to honor the pilots by placing flowers at the grave. When the woman was asked why she did that, she replied, “They were some mothers’ children.”
I may have not phrased that last quote perfectly, but I was touched when I read it. It is so true.
All Americans should give pause to honor our fallen heroes as well as all veterans. They brave what we back home can’t even imagine. War should end. Not just this one but all wars. While I cannot see this possibly happen, I can still have faith in that. War is the worst thing possible. A stanza from the poem “Suicide in the Trenches” by WWI hero Siegfried Sassoon exemplifies this horror and what our veterans must endure:
“You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you’ll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.”
Thanks for the post. We need to honor all veterans, especially those who gave everything.
Remember our fallen veterans and heroes on Memorial Day.
Will be doing it soon but not with kids over my shoulder, “Hi balletgirl.” One kid stayed home with pink eye this week so if she is better we have a few plans to celebrate the weekend. Every year we do something, this year will not be different.
Don’t forget those who did return. They are veterans too. While we mourn the dead, let us not forget to shower love and goodness to those who have contributed as much, maybe more; and lived to return to us.
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[...] gratitude to Domestic Divapalooza for gathering a list of Memorial Day tribute blog posts! See value in this Content? [...]
Great Idea, Angela. I’ve published my post, too. Thanks!
What a great idea! I love that you are not only taking the time to honor those who have served but encouraging others to do the same. My post is up (of course).
@MailOurMilitary
on Twitter
Memorial Day…
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends….
I grew up in the military, so we moved every 3 years and didn’t have the tradition of visiting family gravesites on Memorial day. But we’ve been in Kansas City for 13 years and this is the only home our children have known. We just got back from visiting the gravesites of my husband’s family and the site of his first partner on the police department. We’ve done this since our first year here, and ‘m glad that we have this tradition with our children.
One visit it always particularly touching– visiting the gravesite of my husband’s great uncle, who parachuted into Normandy. My son, who’s now 13 has done the same thing each year. Each time we visit this particular uncle’s site, my son asks my husband to tell the story of how this great Uncle parachuted into Normandy and what happened there, then as any good boy scout would, he stands at attention and salutes the flag we always place at his tombstone.
I’m saddened at the thought of all of MY family members, who are buried in New York and whose graves I haven’t seen since I was a child. As we wander through the cemeteries here in KC, looking for my husband’s family members, I always regret that we’re so far away and can’t the sites of my own family members. What’s even sadder is that there really isn’t any family there anymore, so their sites probably haven’t been visited in years. GRandparents, uncles, aunts….
My grandparents were both immigrants from Armenia and Turkey, who’s parents fled during the Armenian genocide. Their families became American citizens and both my grandparents joined the Army, my grandmother was in the Women’s Army Corps.
My father was a LTC in the Army– he passed away in 2001. I didn’t know until AFTER the funeral, when we were wondering why people were getting in their cars to head to a cemetary, that his wife (my parents were divorced) had decided to have him cremated instead of buried. This was particularly distressful to my brothers and I, considering that cremation is actually against our religious beliefs and no one told us that she was having him cremated. On top of that, there isn’t a gravesite to go to. So I always just have to think of him in my heart. I know and understand that a person isn’t actually THERE at the gravesite, but is in heaven. But still, there really IS something comforting about having that place to go to, to see their name on the stone and know that even though their spirit is in heaven, that their body is there. For some reason it just makes you feel a little “closer”. I know that seems silly– I wonder if it’s just because it’s hallowed ground.
Anyway… I’m rambling now.
I’m just glad that we have this tradition to share with our children. Our heritage and ancestry is something we should embrace.
Thanks. And the purplepalooza looks neat.
Thank you PTG for helping me out with the purple divapalooza. It’s something I wanted to do with it for a long time and didn’t know how. All the graphic designers I know are too busy and charge WAY too much for their services anyway so I was really grateful that you helped me with it.
I wanted to thank everybody for participating in this weekend trackback. It was neat to head to your blogs and see what you had put up referencing the holiday weekend.
Tracy.. I’m so sorry that you last your dad in 2001. It’s amazing to think that the military would put your family in the small quarters that we lived in on Fort Hood in Comanche 3a. Growing up we always knew were the families of the officers lived but it wasn’t that far off or different from where we lived yet there was a bit of a distinction.. at least from how I remember it.
I went back to Fort hood a few years ago and took pictures of Comanche 3a, the court where Christine and I lived, the Shoppette (which by the way looks NOTHING like how we remember it), the house that Christine lived in and the house that I lived in. I can’t believe that we lived in those tiny things. It was neat to see how the housing has changed. When I go back down there next month I will take pictures and share them with you.
I will admit that I LOVE being in the cemetery. My grandparents are buried in Fort Worth. We actually had to call ahead and meet at the funeral home so they could give us a map of the plots and where everybody was at. Me and my girls sat at my grandmother’s grave and had pictures taken. I felt like I was closer to her even though I know she is in heaven. Then we explored the place checking out all the head stones and the names. The funeral home gave us more plots to check out with the Llewellyn name which had me curious as to whether they were family. My dad told me at the time that they were not but sometimes I have to wonder..
Have you ever been to the familysearch.org??
I can almost guarantee you, that if you put your
grandfather’s name in the search there, (or a great grandfather– whatever name you have that goes the farthest back) that a huge list of names will pop up.
I only had back to my great grandfather on the my father’s side, but other people who’d traced THEIR genealogy had entered the information they knew. All it takes sometimes is ONE name– and that’s what happened for us.
I put in my great grandfathers name, birth and death date, place of birth in Canada etc, and ended up with my ancestry all the way back to the early 1600’s in France when the French first went to Canada.
It is immensely important that everybody, regardless of their views, shows their appreciation for those who have give so much so selflessly.
I like the cemetery, too. It’s peaceful to me.
PS I like the purple too :)
[...] gratitude to Domestic Divapalooza for gathering a list of Memorial Day tribute blog [...]