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Posted on 05/31/2004 1:24:13 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 On this day, we pay tribute to those whose lives were sacrificed for our freedom. Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service to our country. It began during the Civil War when organized women's groups in several towns throughout the South decorated the graves of the Confederate war dead with flowers, wreaths and flags. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5th, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on May 30, 1868.  Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery each year with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Traditionally, the President or Vice President lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The occasion is also marked in almost every State on the last Monday in May. Several southern states, however, have an additional, separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee. Here is General Logan's official order: General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868 The 30th day 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 church-yard 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. We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic. If our eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us. Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from his honor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to lend its friendly aid in bringing to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith. Department commanders will use efforts to make this order effective. By order of JOHN A. LOGAN, Commander-in-Chief N.P. CHIPMAN, Adjutant General Official: WM. T. COLLINS, A.A.G.      |
Forget Me Nots in the front yard here.
Thanks for the link PE.
Morning Iris7
Thank you for the reminder, Mayor.
Thank you Ragtime Cowgirl.
Snippy and I are about top leave for the Memorial Day Ceremonies at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Portland.
God morning Mud.
Thanks PE.
Flaqs up. Army service banner too.
Saw the WWII Memorial Ceremony here and had to clean my glasses several times. Lawn sprinklers I guess.
Thoughts on Memorial Day 2004
Why is this Memorial (or Decoration Day) weekend different from past holidays? We are at war but we were at war last year. Soldiers have died but soldiers died last year and the year before and every year since 1941, in hot wars and in the cold war. I have not lost family or friends or even know anyone who has lost family or friends. Yet this day I feel a loss more than I have in the past. I have not been called upon to sacrifice; there is no rationing, no tax increases, no shortage of essential and non-essential items. Yes, gas is a little higher, it is not excessive and minor changes in driving habits can overcome the increase at the pump.
As I watched the dedication of the World War 2 Memorial, I pondered the sacrifices Americans made during that war. There were boys from the farms of Iowa who had never seen an ocean fighting off Okinawa. There were boys who had never left the city fighting in the jungles of Guadalcanal. There were black soldiers flying over Italy or liberating concentration camps in Germany who could not use the same water fountain at home, housewives who became pilots and nurses, Nisei who fought with the 442nd Infantry in Italy while some of their parents were interned. Many grew up too fast, some never had the opportunity to grow up but all gave all they could to see America victorious in a war against tyranny and oppression. I think of the Sullivans, whose blue stars turned to gold for five sons in one evening. I cannot imagine what that must have felt like and how family can recover from such a loss. But they did. To paraphrase Tom Hanks, they went to war, did their job, came home, and looked to the future. The soldiers who came home put the war in the past and looked to the future. The freedoms of the future were what they had sacrificed and died for and there wasn’t any point in dwelling in the past. Many who returned went on to accomplishments never dreamed of prior to their service.
That was Saturday and Sunday was the Washington D.C. Memorial Day celebration. Again, for me, it was different from past years. The tributes to the dead and wounded were honorable and without rancor or politics. How refreshing.
I thought again of World War 2 and the sacrifices on the home front everybody endured. The focus was on victory but no one knew when. In March of 1942, victory was not a shining beacon in the night, rather a single lit match lost in the vastness of the universe. But we prevailed, we overcame, we adapted, and we won.
Today, I will read and remember and, perhaps, play an historical wargame. But there will be a difference in the game. The pieces will no longer be just little squares or icons with numbers and odds. They will represent soldiers and sailors and marines and airmen I have read about, soldiers I have served with in my past. The game will no longer be about just winning, but winning with as little loss of life as possible. The units have come alive.
I was fortunate enough to attend the 60th anniversary of the attack on Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. At the end of the ceremony, everyone took an orchid from the bowl. On the orchid was the name of someone who had died that day. We tossed the orchid into the harbor and watched them float in the same waters where so many had died, overshadowed by the white of the Arizona Memorial.
This is for FC2 George Calvin Ford, who died on U.S.S. Oklahoma on December 7th, 1941. May God hold him in the palm of His hand until the sea gives up her dead.
Good evening, Mr. Wolf...MUD
All gave some, some gave all, and to each and every man and woman in our military, past or present, my gratitude and support is forever.
THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!
And my thanks, also, to our allies who have stood beside us throughout the years.
Thanks for sharing this with us ken, very nice.
Good afternoon Aeronaut.
Good afternoon EGC. Have you been weathering the storms?
I'll take carbs anyday and all day Gail!
Good afternoon Valin.
Good afternoon Samwise. How goes the graphics work?
Good afternoon feather.
Sam and I just returned from our outing today. It was an honor to be escorted by Sam to the Memorial Service at the Vietnam Veterans Park they have up in Portland. I've been to the park before on my first trip here and it is a beautiful solemn place but today the ceremony was very moving and it was good to be there.
After the service Sam took me to the USS Blueback, a submarine docked on the river. Wow. This was my first time on a submarine. I can't imagine sailing off in that for months at a time. I lean toward claustrophobia in those tight spaces!
Anyway it was a lovely day and now I can catch up on pings!
Good afternoon tomball.
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