What is Memorial Day?
a) a great day for a BBQ
b) the official start of camping season
c) a day set aside to remember and honor the soldiers who have died serving our country.
All of the above!! But of course, answer C is most important!
Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day and is set aside to commemorate military men and women who died while in military service. It started right after the civil war and used to be on May 30 to remember soldiers of the civil war. It has now been set to the last monday in may and is used to remember soldiers of all wars. I was taught today that Memorial Day is also a time to remember POW's and MIA's who are still unaccounted for.
This morning we went to a memorial day service at a local park. It was a very nice event. There was a choir that sang, a few speakers, a moment of silence, a prayer for fallen soldiers, representatives from each military unit to post a flag from their unit. We also had the chance to sing the national anthem, salute the flag and recite the pledge of allegiance. I love the opportunity to think about our American heritage and reflect on the great blessing it is to be an American. And, on this holiday in particular to think of all the brave soldiers who have fought and currently fight with honor to uphold our freedoms.
watching the retiring of the colors
clare covering ears during (and after) the firing of vollys.
Recently, President Bush honored Frank Buckles, 107 years old, the last known surviving WW1 Veteran in the US.
Let us treat every day as memorial day -- especially now during a time of war when we have soldiers deployed and the number of soldiers lost in battles increases daily. Let us remember, honor and respect our fallen brothers and also reflect on what they have fallen for.
Memorial Day thoughts in the eyes of a 5 year old:
This morning we were telling Calvin how lucky we are to live in America and that there are soldiers who fight the "bad guys" so that we can have a happy life and be free and have food. He said, "I don't live in America. I live in Africa." We told him, "no, you don't. In Africa they don't have food. A lot of kids don't have mommies and daddies either. That is why you are lucky to be in America." He thought about that as did we. (There really is a lot of misery in the world and it is truly a blessing that we live in America and enjoy a life with so many comforts. So many people in the world do not enjoy the safety and peace that we have in our communities).
When we got to the memorial day service and saw many men in uniform he said, "which ones are the bad guys?" we assured him that there were no bad guys there today.
3 comments:
Great insight. We really do need to remember.
so neat. that is so cool to go to a service. we visited joe's sister's grave yesterday as part of memorial day i suppose.
We did nothing to celebrate the day. Well, I was sick, but I now feel bad because I didn't even mention it to Ally other then to make her call her grandma who lost her husband a year ago.
thanks for giving me ideas on how to do better next year.
Oh and good job to Calvin for wearing his patch. I think about him often and the struggle he is having wearing it. I feel so bad about it. I hope he is learning to keep it on more.
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