Triumphrat

KingBear · 05-25-2007, 02:15 PM

Please allow me to express my appreciation to all those who now serve or have served to protect and defend the freedom of our nation, now or in the past, whether they fought in combat or not, whether they lived or died. If they ever stood a post at home or abroad, they stood for freedom.

I'm fortunate to live just outside Washington D.C. I'll take a drive down to the mall very early one morning this weekend and visit some of the memorials. They are all splendid and sacred. I won't try to visit them all, but I'll spend some time at a few of them before the crowds roll in. I usually avoid the Vietnam Memorial because there are often people there who are having very deep, personal, emotional experiences. I don't like to intrude on that.

I'm a very emotional person myself, and when I visit these places, or go to an air show like I did last weekend, or when the flag goes by at a parade, sometimes I get a little choked up. It's hard to explain, but I'm sure many of you know what I mean.

I'm one of those melting-pot mongrels who can trace his ancestry back to at least a dozen different countries, so I really can't identify myself with a particular ethnic culture like a lot of people can. Sometimes I envy people who have gatherings celebrating their Norwegian or Irish or German heritage. I'm a little of each of those, but I don't think of myself that way. It's just too far removed from me.

I'm just an American.

Whisperinsmith · 05-25-2007, 02:25 PM

Nicely put KingBear.

LoVel · 05-25-2007, 02:43 PM

Can't add anything to that.

Very nice tribute.

mkchev · 05-25-2007, 03:22 PM

From a kiwi, thanks for what you Americans have done in the past and are still doing today.I don;t know alot about your memorial day but when I get home from work (Saturday morning here,Start at 7am) I am going on the net to do some learning about your memorial day .

[ This message was edited by: mkchev on 2007-05-25 13:23 ]

Tex-ton · 05-25-2007, 03:24 PM

Nice post, good job Bear :upthumb: Sometimes folks forget.

sweatmachine · 05-25-2007, 04:32 PM

Thanks to all who serve or served.

My cousin is in Iraq right now. He is in the Marine Corps, and is 19 years old.

KingBear · 05-25-2007, 04:45 PM

My apologies. Sometimes I forget we are an international community...

Quote:

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.

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.

Please allow me to also express my appreciation for those who have served, fought, and died for freedom and democracy in other countries around the world. Whether they fought alongside American servicemen as allies or in struggles of their own, they are brothers in arms.

seumas · 05-25-2007, 11:17 PM

+1, very well put KingBear.

doodledog · 05-26-2007, 08:19 AM

Bless them all.

HiDesert · 05-26-2007, 08:52 AM

Ancestry.com says "Since the beginning of the American Revolution, more than 43 million men and women have served in the U.S. military during wartime. In this some 230 years of military heritage, more than 650,000 American lives have been lost and more than 1.4 million service members wounded in battle. We remember and honor all that these heroes have sacrificed for America's freedom."

Thank God such men lived. May we always find the strength and determination to preserve and extend what they have accomplished.