It usually involved a visit to a cemetery or what we called in my small North Dakota town "the graveyard" to put flowers on the resting places of those who had gone on before.
There were only two in my family who served during World War Two.
My mother's brother, Connie, didn't make it home from his service in the Pacific.
The ironic story I've heard is that he drowned while swimming off of Leyte, in the Philippines, while waiting for a troop ship to take the boys home.
And my father's brother, Zenas, who was well past draft age when he volunteered and spent his service time in Burma and India.
"Zeke", as some in the family called him, came home from the war and spent the rest of his life in his adopted home of San Francisco.
After his death his ashes were scattered in the ocean off a beach where he spent many happy times.
Flash forward a few decades and a few wars and our grandson Russell (or Rusty as I've always called him) served in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan over the period of several terms in the Army.
He's pictured here with his lovely wife, Kayla.
On this Memorial Day we thank all of them and the millions of others for their service to their country.
In my little town of Rochester, Michigan, there is a charming old cemetery that has headstones dating to 1817. In 1911, a statue of "Billy Yank" was erected near the entrance in memory of Oakland county's Civil War veterans. This is where the Memorial Day parades would end. Rifles would be fired, speeches would be made, and the bands would play. Pretty heady stuff for a kid. Fond hometown memories.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful tribute! Thank you all our service men and women.
ReplyDeleteI usually pause and remember a few of my buddies who never got to see the future. It's been so, so many years snow.....We're now what I used to think of WW2 vets, old guys, remembering the past. Anyway, if you get a chance, lift a glass to Bill Koho, Bend Oregon, baseball mate of mine, a hell of a player.
ReplyDeleteA great Tribute.
ReplyDeleteA great way to pay tribute.
ReplyDeleteFound this story,
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/the-black-history-of-memorial-day-has-been-nearly-wiped-from-public-memory-heres-the-real-story/
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ReplyDeleteYes, time to give tribute and let's hope for a better world everyday. You have such a sweet family Bruce.
ReplyDelete