A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....05-25,26,27-07...T.G.I.F....Memorial Weekend.. at the Finest

[GodBlessUSA]

Every generation of Americans have been called on to defend freedom and liberty. Over the years more than forty two million American men and women have served their country in time of war. More than a million have secured the blessings of liberty with their lives. America is blessed by our Heroes.

TAPS


Lee Greenwood - Proud To Be An American

Welcome to TGIF at the Finest!   We hope you've been having as much fun as we have with our essays and/or spotlight on various FReepers. If you missed seeing any of this week's threads and want to say hello there now, just click on the link for that particular day.

~ Billie, Dutchess, Dolly Cali, The Mayor, GodBlessUSA ~


"Getting to Know You"

THIS WEEK'S THREADS

05-21-22-07 ~ Military Tribute
By Billie
Presented by The Mayor

05-23-07 ~ Warm Fuzzy Wednesday
By Billie
Presented by GodBlessUSA

05-24-07 ~ Press 1 for English
By JohnHuang2
Presented by Billie

"Wear Red" Friday
Have a wonderful weekend!

03-27-07 ~ Hall of Fame #19 ~ Final

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

We take this time on Memorial Day to salute our Fallen Heroes who through the history of our country have fought and died for all of us. THANK YOU!!!

~Aaron Tippen~
The Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Flies

[Majie Purple]

T Y Caring Kitty, You too!

[Billie]

What a nice surprise to see this beautiful Memorial Day Tribute thread today! Thank you also for the way you daily honor our Military Vets and Active Duty Warriors!

[JustAmy]

Beautiful Memorial Weekend thread, GB. Thank you.

Have a safe, relaxing weekend.
Remember our Military!!

[Mama_Bear]

Good morning, GeeBee.

Just stopping by with my Memorial Day Weekend offering, which will probably be my only post for awhile - or, at least until I get to feeling better. (I've been suffering with awful allergies and feeling too miserable to even care about being on my computer.)

I hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend.

Remember Our Fallen Heroes....

In Flanders Fields
...Lt. Col. John McCrae

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.

---

[Lady Jag]

The Finest Observing
Memorial Day Weekend

[ConorMacNessa]

[Lady Jag]

Another girl in a red dress

[Lady Jag]

[ConorMacNessa]

Bivouac Of The Dead
By Theodore O’Hara
(Written in memory of the Kentucky troops killed in the Mexican War - 1847)

The muffled drum’s sad roll has beat
The soldier’s last tattoo;
No more on Life’s parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On fame’s eternal camping ground
Their silent tents to spread,
And glory guards, with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.
No rumor of the foe’s advance
Now swells upon the wind;
Nor troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind;
No vision of the morrow’s strife
The warrior’s dreams alarms;
No braying horn or screaming fife
At dawn shall call to arms.

Their shriveled swords are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed,
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,
Is now their martial shroud.
And plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow,
And the proud forms, by battle gashed
Are free from anguish now.

The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle’s stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shout, are past;
Nor war’s wild note, nor glory’s peal
Shall thrill with fierce delight
Those breasts that nevermore may feel
The rapture of the fight.

Like the fierce Northern hurricane
That sweeps the great plateau,
Flushed with triumph, yet to gain,
Come down the serried foe,
Who heard the thunder of the fray
Break o’er the field beneath,
Knew the watchword of the day
Was “Victory or death!”

Long had the doubtful conflict raged
O’er all that stricken plain,
For never fiercer fight had waged
The vengeful blood of Spain;
And still the storm of battle blew,
Still swelled the glory tide;
Not long, our stout old Chieftain knew,
Such odds his strength could bide.

Twas in that hour his stern command
Called to a martyr’s grave
The flower of his beloved land,
The nation’s flag to save.
By rivers of their father’s gore
His first-born laurels grew,
And well he deemed the sons would pour
Their lives for glory too.

For many a mother’s breath has swept
O’er Angostura’s plain —
And long the pitying sky has wept
Above its moldered slain.
The raven’s scream, or eagle’s flight,
Or shepherd’s pensive lay,
Alone awakes each sullen height
That frowned o’er that dread fray.

Sons of the Dark and Bloody Ground
Ye must not slumber there,
Where stranger steps and tongues resound
Along the heedless air.
Your own proud land’s heroic soil
Shall be your fitter grave;
She claims from war his richest spoil —
The ashes of her brave.

Thus ‘neath their parent turf they rest,
Far from the gory field,
Borne to a Spartan mother’s breast
On many a bloody shield;
The sunshine of their native sky
Smiles sadly on them here,
And kindred eyes and hearts watch by
The heroes sepulcher.

Rest on embalmed and sainted dead!
Dear as the blood ye gave;
No impious footstep here shall tread
The herbage of your grave;
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While Fame her record keeps,
For honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps.

Yon marble minstrel’s voiceless stone
In deathless song shall tell,
When many a vanquished ago has flown,
The story how ye fell;
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter’s blight,
Nor time’s remorseless doom,
Can dim one ray of glory’s light
That gilds your deathless tomb.

[Majie Purple]

((((For our resident feeling under the weather folks right now...))))

& Lovely poppy pic too M B!

[GodBlessUSA]

Good Afternoon Connor
How are you today. Great graphic!

[GodBlessUSA]

Good Afternoon The Mayor :) Thank you for today's scripture.

I can't believe it's hot and humid here today. I wish you and your family a very nice Memorial Day Weekend.

[GodBlessUSA]

Hi JustAmy
Thank You :)
How are you? I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

[GodBlessUSA]

Hi Luv
You look great in red. How are you today? I’m doing pretty good. Hugs!

[GodBlessUSA]

Good Afternoon Lady Jag :)

[GodBlessUSA]

Hi Mama Bear
I'm sorry you are feeling so poorly.

I hope you

[ConorMacNessa]

Good afternoon, GeeBee! How are you doing today?

[Lady Jag]

That "Bivouac of the Dead" is beautiful, I never saw it before.

Memorial Day

It was enough to make us weep, half a dozen veterans of the last great war looking like fading away, followed by the high school band, booming bravely into adulthood. Next a squad in Civil War uniform, harking back to the source of the holiday, a fratricide that seems today almost as if it occurred in another country, not just another century. Then making up in creativity what our town lacks in size a retired Humvee with a small girl in back wearing a grunt style cap and waving mechanically; vintage cars, big ones from a century ago with wooden spokes and other vestiges of their carriage genes, still boxy ones from the 20s, the streamlined 30s, the fishtailed 50s, a couple of Mustangs, an early Corvette; then the fire engines, big and bigger, like armor-plated rhinos, our town’s brigade riding old fashioned red, others yellow, sage green from a well-heeled nearby town; delegations of Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Brownies, one scout troop with a five-piece band trying like twenty-five; a motorcycle club, plenty of paunch and gray hair, and, though some ponytails, suburban angels rather than Hell’s. Finally a platoon of kids all safely helmeted, one tireless on a pogo stick others on scooters and bikes and even a few on tricycles, training for future wars. Richard Greene

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

070515-N-0684R-020 PERSIAN GULF (May 15, 2007) - Sailors approach guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) in a pair of rigid hull inflatable boats after a day of performing interaction patrols (IPATS) in the Persian Gulf. IPATS are an element of maritime operations and are conducted in Iraqi territorial waters so that commercial shipping and fishing can occur safely in the region. Preble, as part of John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, is on a scheduled deployment in support of the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ron Reeves (RELEASED)

070521-N-3235P-010 ATLANTIC OCEAN (May 21, 2007) - While in transit to Fleet Week New York City 2007, sail training ship ARA Libertad (Q-2) sails past amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1). Libertad serves as a learning platform for graduating naval cadets entering the Argentine sea service. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael W. Pendergrass (RELEASED)

070523-N-8395K-002 ANNAPOLIS, Md. (May 23, 2007) - The U. S. Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron, also known as the Blue Angels, fly in an echelon formation during a performance at the U.S. Naval Academy, one of a series of events leading up the graduation and commissioning of the Class of 2007. Other special events included performances from the Marine Barracks Washington Silent Drill Platoon and the U.S. Naval Academy Pipes and Drums. U.S. Navy photo by Gin Kai (RELEASED)

[Lady Jag]

{{{HUGS GEEBEE!!!}}}