Remember the reason

[Bahamaniac]

Happy memorial day! Remember the reason that we celebrate this day. We went to our small town parade today. When it was over I noticed a man pushing an elderly man in a wheelchair with a WW2 veteran hat on. I walked over, shook his hand, and thanked him for his service. He absolutely lit up! We were able to talk for a bit. It made both our days! To all the veterans out there I want to say Thank you for your service! Without you this great land would not be the same. Happy Memorial day to all!

[FatChance]

In memory of my father! He really was a hero. [emoji106]

[SlaterDoc]

Please don't take offense! I too honor your father's service. I may just becoming a "grumpy old man" in my mid-60's. But, I wish we all could come up with something more appropriate than "happy Memorial Day"! It is suppose to be a " somber" remembrance of those that gave their lives in defense of the nation. All those young men that never came home are what it is for. Sorry, the women too! I remember my grandfather's (WW1, DSC) great disternation every time he heard someone use that phrase (Happy Mem Day). He'd always point out that his was suppose to be the "war to end all wars"! Then say all the wars that came after were because so many forgot the cost! So instead, maybe we should wish all a "heart-felt remembrance on this somber day of those that gave all". I have a cousin (Marine Major) that gave that last full measure in Nam. I think of him on this day!

[F4Gary]

Originally Posted by SlaterDoc

Please don't take offense! I too honor your father's service. I may just becoming a "grumpy old man" in my mid-60's. But, I wish we all could come up with something more appropriate than "happy Memorial Day"! It is suppose to be a " somber" remembrance of those that gave their lives in defense of the nation. All those young men that never came home are what it is for. Sorry, the women too! I remember my grandfather's (WW1, DSC) great disternation every time he heard someone use that phrase (Happy Mem Day). He'd always point out that his was suppose to be the "war to end all wars"! Then say all the wars that came after were because so many forgot the cost! So instead, maybe we should wish all a "heart-felt remembrance on this somber day of those that gave all". I have a cousin (Marine Major) that gave that last full measure in Nam. I think of him on this day!

I agree.






I know OP meant no disrespect.

[inlineskater]

Our Honor guard went to three cemeteries today in the rain, thank you to all you have lost relatives to war, may we someday not have to remember anyone else. Thank you to the Men on the Post 39 North St. Paul MN Honor Guard, I am honored to serve with you.

[F4Gary]

Originally Posted by inlineskater

Our Honor guard went to three cemeteries today in the rain, thank you to all you have lost relatives to war, may we someday not have to remember anyone else. Thank you to the Men on the Post 39 North St. Paul MN Honor Guard, I am honored to serve with you.

Thank you for doing what you do. It is much appreciated.

[99-Am.Star]

I sit here reading this with tears in my eyes for way to many friends who were lost in Vietnam, and other wars. It seems like it is just another day for sales at the local stores and picnics to celebrate the beginning of the sumer picnic season and such. I think that is because those lost end up being the 1% of the population who have given their time to service of country are involved. . But whatever the cause, it is a shame.
just this old worn out soldier's thoughts.

[DRM901]

Thank you for the reminder of what this day off is really about. It reminded me of the days when we had the blue laws. No stores were open on Sunday. Being new to Texas it took me a while to adjust, but then I grew to love it. It encourages you to focus on the intent of the day. I know I will do my own blue law going forward on Memorial Day and remember those that serve, including my Dad and uncles (WWII), grandfather (WWI), and cousins (Nam).

[RRR]

I found this a very interesting reading on Memorial Day.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politic...t-carried-him/

The Things That Carried Him

The award-winning true story behind one soldier's last trip home.

Don Collins stood in the sun and mapped out in his mind a rectangle on the grass, eight feet by three feet. He is forty-nine, wears a handful of pomade in his hair, and no longer needs a tape to take the measure of things.

Indiana state law dictates that the lid of the burial vault be two feet below the surface. That meant Collins had to dig down five feet, ultimately lifting out about a hundred cubic feet of earth. He wouldn't need a tape to measure that, either. Since 1969, his father, Don Sr., has owned the Collins Funeral Home, just up Elm Street, just past the little yellow house with the two yellow ribbons tied to the tree out front. As a boy, Don Jr. had lived upstairs with the spirits and the rest of his family, over the chapel. He and his younger brother, Kevin, would later work with their dad in the back room, embalming the bodies of their neighbors at three o'clock in the morning, and he still assists his father in his capacity as coroner. But Don Jr. has had enough of bodies in back rooms. He likes it better outside, in the sticky air, working with the earth.

The next day, Thursday, May 31, 2007, he sat in the heat on a distant tombstone, waiting until he could finish the rest of his work. Just after twelve o'clock, the first people arrived: a vanload of nine honor-guard soldiers up from Fort Knox, dressed in their green Class-A uniforms, with knotted ties and berets. Collins had seen them practicing and pointing at various spots in the grass when he dug the grave. Now seven of them stacked their M16's in one of those spots. Each gun held three rounds; Sergeant Aaron Huber, a broad-backed thirty-one-year-old veteran of the war in Iraq, had taken care to polish his ammunition to a high shine. Six of the soldiers, including Huber, then assembled in two rows between the grave and where they knew the hearse would park. The extra rifleman remained with the weapons, and the noncom in charge, thirty-seven-year-old Sergeant Kenneth Dawson, stood at attention nearby. The ninth man, Specialist Robert Leatherbee, a boy-faced twenty-six-year-old from Massachusetts, took his place about forty feet away. With his buzz cut and iron-crisp uniform, he looked like a soldier, but there seemed something smaller or gentler about him, at least compared with the others. Maybe it was just that he was holding a trumpet instead of a gun, his fingers tender on the brass.

[Cat320]

I agree with post #3, there is nothing "happy" about Memorial Day. Half the country doesn't even know what it's for.

Here's a reminder of the purpose of each day honoring military members past and present:

ARMED FORCES DAY: Honors those who currently wear the uniform.

VETERAN'S DAY: Honors those who used to wear the uniform.

MEMORIAL DAY: Honors those who never made it out of uniform.

For more information:

https://wtvr.com/2019/05/26/differen...eterans-day-2/