MEMORIAL DAY: It's their day, isn't it?

Memorial Day is their day, isn't it?


It supposed to be the day a grateful nation pauses to quietly thank the more than one million men and women who have died in military service to their country since the revolutionary war.


Or is it the day the beach resorts kick into high gear for the summer season, the day the sand is covered by fish-belly white people basting themselves in coconut oil, the day the off season rates end and the weekend you can't get in a seaside seafood restaurant with anything less than a hour wait.


Or is it one of the biggest shopping center sales day of the year, a day when hunting for a parking space is the prime sport for the holiday stay-at homers?


Or is it the weekend when more people will kill themselves on the highways than any other weekend and highway patrol troopers work overtime picking up the pieces?


I think the men and women who died for us would understand what we do with their day. I hope they would, because if they wouldn't, if they would have insisted that it be a somber, respectful day of remembrance, then we have blown it and dishonored their sacrifice.


I knew some of those who died and the guys I knew would have understood.


They liked a sunny beach and a cold beer and a hot babe in a black bikini too. They would have enjoyed packing the kids, the inflatable rafts, the coolers, and the suntan lotion in the car and heading for the lake. They would have enjoyed staying at home and cutting the grass and getting together with some friends and cooking some steaks on the grill too.


But they didn't get the chance. They blew up in the marine barracks in Beirut and died in the oily waters of the Persian Gulf. They caught theirs at the airstrip in Grenada in the little war everyone laughed at. They bought the farm in the La Drang valley and on Heartbreak Ridge, Phu Tai and at Hue. They froze at the Chosin Reservoir and were shot at the Pusan perimeter and Guadalcanal. They died in the ice and snow of the bulge and the Vosges mountains. They were at the Somme and San Juan Hill and at Gettysburg and at Cerro Gordo and at Valley Forge.


They couldn't be here with us today, but I think they would understand that we don't spend the day in tears and heart-wrenching memorials. They wouldn't want that. Grief is not why they died. They died so we could go fishing. They died so another father could toss a baseball to his son in their backyard while the charcoal is getting white. They died so another buddy could drink a beer on his day off. They died so a family could get in the minivan and go shopping and maybe get some ice cream on the way home. They died so that the same family could worship in their own way in a church of their choosing.


They won't mind that we have chosen their day to have our first big outdoor party of the year. But they wouldn't mind, either, if we took just a few minutes and thought of them.


Some will think of them formally, of course. Wreaths will be laid in small sparsely attended ceremonies in military cemeteries and at monuments at state capitals and in small town squares. Flags will fly over the graves, patriotic words will be spoken and a few people there will probably feel a little anger that no more people showed up. They'll think no one else remembers.


But we do remember. I remember Smitty and Pete, and Jerry and the guys who died. I remember the deal we made: if we buy it, we said, " Drink a Beer for Me "


I'll do it for you guys. I'll drink that beer for you today and I'll sit on that beach for you, and check out the girls for you, and just briefly, I'll think of you. I won't let the memory of your tragic death spoil the trip, but you'll be on that sunny beach with me today.


I will not mourn your deaths this Memorial Day, my Friends. Rather I'll celebrate the life you gave me.


-Author unknown-

Filmmaker Jack Marino: "I made FORGOTTEN HEROES to honor all the Vietnam Vets who I felt were totally mistreated by the anti-war protesters that spit on them and called them baby-kllers."

BUY THE DVD FOR A VETERAN AS A "THANK YOU" FOR THEIR SERVICE!

Filmmaker Jack Marino:

Here is the 2:25 Trailer of FORGOTTEN HEROES cut by a guy who used to cut all the trailers for Disney in the early 90s. The video isn't color corrected since he cut this trailer from the original 3/4 masters videos.

FORGOTTEN HEROES Part 1- '92 Trailer - A Film by Jack Marino

I made this film to honor all the Vietnam Vets who I felt were totally mistreated by the anti-war protestors that spit on them and called them baby-kllers. The Hollywood leftist that run Hollywood continued to spit on these vets in countless films by protraying them as anything but Heroic. As the director I tried to show the honor and comaraderier that men in combat experience under fire. After close to 300 screenings in Hollywood by every studio and independent distributor, because I showed my guys are heroes and didn't follow the political line, my film was never picked up. Even though they all called it 'powerful and profound'.

You can order the DVD on www.forgottenheroesthemovie.com and you can read the back story and all the reviews and testimonials throughout the years.

Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC

KNOW YOUR HISTORY:

Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated.

Thanks to Abstrakt Goldsmith for this nugget of history that most of us never learned in school.

WARNING: Check your ground beef before you grill out this Memorial Day weekend

A representative for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the meat is being removed from store shelves. But consumers should return or throw out meat that has the code EST.2574B and a production date between March 31 and April 18, 2014.

The ground beef is sold under a variety of labels, according to the USDA, but comes from Wolverine Packing Co. in Detroit.

READ MORE

A poet, a friend, a tribute

From Kender MacGowan:

It's Memorial Day Weekend. It's not "the start of summer" or National Summer Barbecue Day. It's a day we stop and remember those who have given their last measure in our service. Those who paid the ultimate price for our Liberty. So while you're hanging out this weekend having cookouts with friends and families remember, spread across the country, and indeed around the world, are quiet lawns of green with markers in eternal formation beneath which lie those who helped make it possible for you to have that cookout. So say a little prayer for the peace of their souls and never forget them.

Row Upon Row

The grass is green, the breezes blow
Where soldiers rest, row upon row
The flags in that same breeze do wave
Neath the stones, above the grave
Where Brothers, friends and family go
As soldiers rest, row upon row
Taps and tears and dreams long lost
Upon the storm of history tossed
In foreign lands of sand and snow
Where soldiers rest, row upon row
A cadence called in Heavens glory
Tho' we won't always know the story
They heard the call and had to go
Now honored, rest, row upon row
Trust they did not die in vain
We'll struggle with the loss and pain
And make their tales of valor grow
As soldiers rest, row upon row.

-- http://kendersmusings.blogspot.com/

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields

 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

               —Attributed to John McCrae (1872-1918).

THE GREAT WAR
(1914 - 1918)

Memorial Day: 2012

From HUGH HEWITT

Friday, May 25, 2012

The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund

Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 8:33 AM

Every Memorial Day Weekend I dedicate a show to interviews with Marines who have been catastrophically injured in the war, interviews arranged by the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. Today 20 Marines and Corpsmen will join me to discuss how and when they were wounded and how their recoveries are proceeding.

The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund is online at SemperFiFund.org and their phone number to pledge support is 760-207-1588. The mailing address is:

The Injured Marines Semper Fi Fund 825 College Blvd Ste 102 PMB 609 Oceanside, CA 92057

The Semper Fi Fund is also undertaking a pilot project to assist severely wounded servicemembers from other branches, which I will also highlight on today's show, and which is online at AmericasFund.org. The phone number for that initiative is 202-772-1081.

This broadcast is always moving and inspiring, and the perfect way to begin the Memorial Day weekend.

From HUGH HEWITT

Stubby: Decorated Dog Hero of 17 Battles

Although "Stubby" is widely regarded as the Grandfather of the American War Dog he was not the first by any means. Dogs were commonplace during the Civil War as companions for the soldiers and during the Spanish-American War, "Jack Brutus" became the official mascot of Company K, First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry.

He was made a lifetime member of the American legion and marched in every legion parade and attended every legion convention from the end of the war until his death. He was written about by practically every newspaper in the country at one time or another. He met three presidents of the United States Wilson, Harding and Coolidge and was a lifetime member of the Red Cross and YMCA. The Y offered him three bones a day and place to sleep for the rest of his life and he regularly hit the campaign trail, recruiting members for the American Red Cross and selling victory bonds.

In 1921 General Blackjack Pershing who was the supreme commander of American Forces during the War pinned STUBBY with a gold hero dog’s medal that was commissioned by the Humane Education Society the forerunner of our current Humane Society.

SKY WATCH: MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The “Reality, Checked” Memorial Day Weekend Nation-Wide Sky Watch

This 2012 Memorial Day Weekend, join the hosts of The Black Vault Radio Network’s, Reality, Checked, in a weekend nation-wide UFO sky watch.  If there is something meant for us to see – let’s find it!

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA. (BlackVault) – For centuries, the human race has asked itself the greatest question, “Are we alone?”  As theoreticians, prophets, researchers, investigators, and curious minds offer up thought-provoking answers to that question – there is only one way to find out.  We need to look for ourselves!

Join TheBlackVault.com’s John Greenewald, Jr., and Trevor Lowder, hosts of “Reality, Checked,” as they launch a 72-hour, nation-wide, project to get everyone to simply… look up. Nearly everyone walking on this planet is armed with videos phones and cameras, so the hosts propose that as most of us likely will have an outside BBQ with our families honoring our nation’s heroes that weekend, that we should also take a moment to peer up into the sky – looking to find evidence that may prove we are not alone.

With a nation-wide alliance of curious sky watchers, armed with an army of cameras, certainly someone, somewhere, could find something.  All too often we look forward or down; but never up where the answers may lie. They propose we change that.

And if you do happen to catch a shred of evidence, TheBlackVault.com offers an amazing new way to catalogue the event, and share it with the world.

Located in The Black Vault’s Case File Database (http://www.theblackvault.com/m/events/home/), users have the opportunity to share their sighting (from any time and date) and upload videos, photos, word documents, sketches, and whatever else they want to share.  It will then be tagged on a global map, and be preserved for others to view and investigate for years to come.

To date, it is arguably the most powerful tool to catalogue your sighting, and it isn’t limited to this year’s Memorial Weekend UFO sky watch. You can catalogue, from any date, UFO sightings, ghost encounters, abduction experiences, military exercises, and anything else of interest.

Help pass the word, and join in the fun as we all take part in this sky watch and the weekend of May 26^th, 2012 – May 28^th, 2012 (Memorial Day) as we all take a couple minutes out of our lives – and simply look up to find an answer.

(Note: Not in the U.S. but want to take part? You can!  Not only do we invite the globe to take part, The Black Vault Case File Database welcomes cases from around the world – so make sure you join us in America for this historic event!)

Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/events/427750950569776/

Contact Details:
John Greenewald, Jr.  (TheBlackVault.com) – john@greenewald.com
Trevor Lowder (Eldensword.Blogspot.com) – trevor@theblackvault.com
Media Enquiries, please contact John or Trevor
###

Nobody does it better than THE PATRIOT POST on Memorial Day

"The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/)"
Memorial Day Special Edition · May 27, 2011

The Foundation

"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death." --Thomas Paine

Liberty

"As we turn the calendar's pages to yet another Memorial Day, I feel compelled to issue a ... challenge, one I offer not as a clergyman but as an American. Simply, let's not lose focus about what this most solemn of national holidays should really be about. Too often Americans view the Memorial Day holiday as a pleasant three-day weekend kicking off the summer, perhaps with the year's first trip to the beach or the lake. We are inclined to think of the Fourth of July as the highlight of the season, with parades and fireworks to renew our nation's dedication to the principles of liberty. But it's worth remembering that we are able to celebrate Independence Day only because of the sacrifices made by the men and women whose lives were cut short to advance those principles. Memorial Day is for honoring their supreme sacrifice. But what does that mean? It is not enough simply to bow our heads and note that more than a million men and women have given their lives so that we may be free. That reduces their sacrifice to mere statistics. The challenge for the living is to keep in mind what each of those individual sacrifices represented. Each soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who died in battle left behind loved ones who mourned their deeply personal loss. They were fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, childhood friends, relatives, neighbors, and members of the community. In giving their lives, they left unfulfilled dreams and ambitions to add to their loved ones' sorrows. That's a million instances of tremendous personal anguish. ... Nothing underscores the importance of liberty as much as the price paid for it. How else to explain the paradox that the price for freedom was so often paid for by those who willingly gave up their own? That sacrifice testifies to the extraordinary power of the ideal of freedom." --author and pastor Rev. Richard G. Lee

Thank You

"Alone, we stand as the shining beacon of liberty and freedom to the world. The freedoms we enjoy today have not come without a price and are too often taken for granted. Because of the brave men and women -- who, from the very start of our nation's existence, have worn the uniform of all branches of the military so we can live in freedom without fear -- we have the freedom to worship as we choose; vote as we choose; travel from one end of this great country to the other; and the opportunity to succeed or fail in pursuing our own individual versions of the American dream. Every American, especially our children, needs to understand and embrace the sacrifices of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen, and marines -- and most importantly, what their families have endured, all to help preserve the promise of the American dream. At a military cemetery, there is no differentiation of politics, rank, color, or gender -- just men and women who had the honor to wear the uniform of the United States of America. For it is at this final resting place that one of our Founding Fathers' principles, 'All Men Are Created Equal,' truly comes to life. ... To those of every generation who made that commitment, the commitment to duty, honor, and country, we say: Thank you!" --author Tom Ruck

In Honor of Fallen Patriots

Don't miss Mark Alexander's essay on Memorial Day and what it really means.

Also, please view our Patriot Memorial Day Tributes.

Insight

"I have only two men out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." --1st. Lt. Clifton B. Cates, Navy Cross, 2 Distinguished Service Crosses, (later Commandant), USMC, July 19, 1918 commanding 96 Company, 6th Marines, near the French town of Soissons

"Casualties: many, Percentage of dead: not known, Combat efficiency: we are winning." --Colonel David M. Shoup, USMC, MOH, (later Commandant) Tarawa, Nov. 21, 1943

"We fight not for glory, nor for riches, nor for honour, but only and alone for Freedom, which no good man lays down but with his life." --Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland, 1320

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." --British philosopher John Stuart Mill

"Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude; American will never forget their sacrifice." --President Harry S. Truman

"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

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
The Patriot Post Editorial Team

*****

(Please pray for our Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world, and for their families -- especially families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who granted their lives in defense of American liberty.)

*PUBLIUS*

The Patriot Post is protected speech pursuant to the "inalienable rights" of all men, and the First (and Second) Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. In God we trust. Copyright © 2011 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

REPRINTING, FORWARDING AND POSTING: Subscribers may reprint, forward or post original content from The Patriot Post, in whole or part, in accordance with our Terms of Use, with the following citation: "The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/ )"

For our military and our veterans (UPDATED)

Since I started blogging in 2006, I began collecting a lot of links (which I try to update frequently) and I've moved the "Military" links up to the top right for Memorial Day.

There's a lot of really great resources for active duty military and for vets as well.

UPDATE: Thanks to Hugh Hewitt's article today -- Memorial Day, 2011 and helping those who serve -- I was able to add several more really great military resources to my collection!

Not sure why this one changed, but you know who's President now:

What happened to the America Supports You Program?

The spirit and intent of the America Supports You Program continues. The Department of Defense (DoD) uses www.OurMilitary.mil to highlight and communicate our country’s support for our military and their families. However, the DoD has relinquished all rights and ownership of the America Supports You name and logos.

During the 2004 presidential election, I practically lived on this site. Viper has the best looking Vietnam Vets page around.

There are several sites here like Operation Gratitidue which make a huge difference to those serving overseas and there's even a social networking site called Together We Served:

As the largest exclusively military network of its type, run by military for military, Together We Served enables veterans and active duty personnel to re-connect with lost brothers and sisters, share in the camaraderie of other servicemen and women, and create a permanent record of their service so this may never be forgotten.

If you know of any other sites that I've missed, please post a comment and let me know.

It's so hard to think of the millions of men and women who are heroes but whose names or lives we will never know. We just have to thank them all and pray for them in spirit and be grateful that they loved our country and our way of life enough to serve and protect.

Today...

OBAMA CONFUSES MEMORIAL DAY WITH VETERANS’ DAY

Obama gets U.S. History wrong again

Il Silenzio (aka TAPS) - UPDATES

From a friend:

Thought all of you would enjoy this! I found this very moving.

You may never have heard the full rendition of Il Silenzio, otherwise known as "Taps". This is a most beautiful rendition.

The girl's name is Melissa Venema and is playing with maestro Andre Rieu from Maastriecht in the Netherlands. She is 13 and has been performing for years. This performance is in 2008 Masstriecht where city officials sealed off the town square and closed everything down so they get perfect noise control. Any of you that have studied music will appreciate such talent from such a 13 year old young lady. This is the first time I have ever heard the full rendition of Taps and I enjoyed it very much. It is a wonderful performance.

VIDEO

UPDATE - I just received this comment (which is in the comments below but I am also posting it here):

I suspect that your inspiration to post this article came from viewing my long running post on Musicouch: http://musicouch.com/musicouching/il-silenzio-and-bugle-call-a-k-a-taps/ and my blog at http://www.wdcplace.blogspot.com/. To my knowledge, I am the only person on the web who has dubbed il Silenzio as Taps. I did so after much research - read the comments on Musicouch. You might want to link my two addresses to your post since your material came from my posts. Wess

UPDATE #2: I just received another comment (which is in the comments below) but I am also posting it here since it, too, adds to the information about this piece of music:

Correct information on this piece can be found at:

www.tapsbugler.com/bugle-calls-in-other-nations/

Bottom line. It's a nice piece of music but

IT IS NOT TAPS

Thanks to both people who posted--it's great to learn more via people who are generous with their time and their knowledge!

UPDATE #3:

FROM A FRIEND: The link to the performance has been around before but I have never seen the story of the performance. At least one country celebrates their liberation by the Americans.

About six miles from Maastricht, in the Netherlands, lie buried 8,301 American soldiers who died in "Operation Market Garden" in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall and winter of 1944. Every one of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British military cemeteries, has been adopted by a Dutch family who mind the grave, decorate it, and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted. It is even the custom to keep a portrait of "their" American soldier in a place of honor in their home. Annually, on "Liberation Day," memorial services are held for "the men who died to liberate Holland." The day concludes with a concert. The final piece is always "Il Silenzio," a memorial piece commissioned by the Dutch and first played in 1965 on the 20th anniversary of Holland's liberation. It has been the concluding piece of the memorial concert ever since.

This year the soloist was a 13-year-old Dutch girl, Melissa Venema, backed by André Rieu and his orchestra (the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands). This beautiful concert piece is based upon the original version of taps and was composed by Italian composer Nino Rossi.

In-country on Memorial Day

Memorial Day 2010 - More up and More down

On Monday, Americans will go to the lake or the park, they will eat hot dogs, bratwurst and hamburgers. There will be parades, fireworks and concerts. Please enjoy this Holiday which marks the beginning of summer. Just remember that my fellow Soldiers and I will spend the day running convoys, kicking down doors, training Iraqis and doing whatever else Uncle Sam requires of us in this war zone. As our Battalion Commander reiterated recently after an Explosively Formed Projectile attack missed killing two of our Soldiers by less than a second, “The enemy is still out there and he still gets a vote on what happens.” We will gladly do our part for the country we all dearly love, and all that we ask is that you recognize our fallen, rejoice in the triumphs those sacrifices have bought, and never forget those of us still fighting.

SGT Kruize’s unit, the Forward Support Company, 367th Engineer Battalion’s motto - “First Up, Last Down.”

God Bless America
Army Strong

On Memorial Day...A Soldier of the Great War

During the mid-1990's, after making a simple (or so I thought) request to transfer to another department within Universal Studios, I found myself embroiled in a lawsuit with the company, removed from my post in lower management, and temporarily parked in the now defunt in-house 'temp pool'.

One day, in a deep drawyer behind my desk, I saw an obviously used paperback that the regular inhabitant of the post had stowed away--it was A Soldier of the Great War.

Being bored, I started reading and, by the time I finished a week or so later, I was blown away by Mark Helprin's book. One Amazon.com reviewer states:

...if "A Farewell to Arms" captured the Great War from Hemingway's uniquely American perspective, Helprin, by opting for an Italian protagonist, finds a universality that eludes Hemingway, and with prose that a century hence will continue to sing, unlike Hemingway's, which already seems stilted by comparison.

Another says this:

One of the truly great works of American fiction. I will go so far to say as it is the finest work of fiction I've read written in the last half of the 20th century.

An English/History teacher with a self-admitted grim fascination for WWI writes:

Mark Helprin has written the 'perfect' book! This novel has everything - philosophy, adventure, great drama, pathos and tragedy, surrealism (of the John Irving type), comedy, romance, art history, riveting characterization, imaginative plotting and structure, and evocative writing.

You can get a taste for the reverence Mr. Helprin brings to this topic by reading his Wall Street Journal "On Memorial Day" tribute from yesterday (5/29/10)--a sample here:

The debt we owe, and in regard to which we are at present deeply in arrears, may be difficult to pay but it is easy to see. To grasp its conspicuous clarity one need only walk among the graves and pause to give proper thought to even just one life among the many. Read slowly the name, the dates, the place where everything came to an end.

I have seen lonely people of advancing age, yet as constant as angels, keeping faith to those they loved who fell in wars that current generations, not having known them, cannot even forget. The sight of them moving hesitantly among the tablets and crosses is enough to break your heart. Let that break be the father to a profound resolution to fulfill our obligation to the endless chain of the mourning and the dead. Shall we not sacrifice where required? Shall we not prove more responsible, courageous, honest, and assiduous? Shall we not illuminate our decisions with the light that comes from the stress of soul, and ever keep faith with the fallen by embracing the soldiers who fight in our name? The answer must be that we shall.

It's NOT America anymore, and here's proof

I remember going to Oshkosh with my parents when I was very little, and going clam hunting after dark (I'd say I remember going at midnight, but don't want to risk my parents' reputation on a child abuse charge or something based on a childhood memory...)

Anyway, if we DID really live in America, this would A-OK:

Oshkosh couple threatened with eviction over flag display

...and he's a VETERAN!!!

Take two minutes...and listen to this

On November 11, 1999 Terry Kelly was in a Shoppers Drug Mart store in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. At 10:55 AM an announcement came over the store's PA asking customers who would still be on the premises at 11:00 AM to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us.

Terry was impressed with the store's leadership role in adopting the Legion's "two minutes of silence" initiative. He felt that the store's contribution of educating the public to the importance of remembering was commendable.

When eleven o'clock arrived on that day, an announcement was again made asking for the "two minutes of silence" to commence. All customers, with the exception of a man who was accompanied by his young child, showed their respect.

Terry's anger towards the father for trying to engage the store's clerk in conversation and for setting a bad example for his child was later channeled into a beautiful piece of work called, "A Pittance of Time". Terry later recorded "A Pittance of Time" and included it on his full-length music CD, "The Power of the Dream".

VETERANS--not preachers, reporters, poets, campus organizers, lawyers, or politicians--buy our freedom with their blood

Let us not forget:

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble, so illegal immigrants can wave their Mexican flags and demand rights they don't even have.

It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN, who salutes the Flag;

It is the VETERAN, who serves under the Flag,

And, it's the VETERAN who is buried under the flag.

SOURCE

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND - NATIONAL TELVISION PREMIERE

http://fightingforlifethemovie.com/