Are you preparing for Memorial Day????

I know it's a few weeks away yet, but IMO, it's not too late to make plans...












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.


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,

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

AMEN!

Amen Brother!

AMEN X2

All gave some, and some gave all.

Amen.

Bill

AMEN !!!!

USING EACH PIC ON MY FACEBOOK AS WE SPEAK!

In Australia and New Zealand, our "Memorial Day" is ANZAC Day, April 25. At commemorative services all in attendance recite this verse from a poem "For the Fallen". It applies to any free nation:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

The full poem:
http://www.army.gov.au/traditions/documents/ForTheFallen.htm

Nice.......Thank-You!

Well said. Amen.

This is a pic of our local Central Park. Every year for Memorial Day, local students from our 2 Middle Schools place crosses containing the names of fallen veterans from our county. They place them about a week before...and leave them up until about a week after. Each of my grandfathers are represented, as is an uncle. One day, my fathers name, another uncle, and my own name will each be represented by our own crosses.

This is something that our local American Legion has been doing as far back as I can remember. The crosses used to be wooden, and the names were painted on by hand. The crosses were often damaged during the placement and retrieval process. It was also becoming more work than the handfull of active aging VFW members could muster. As a result...a local teacher, wanting to see the tradition continue, took an interest, and got his students motivated to help out. The students all volunteer to do this.

He also took it a step farther, and mentioned to some people within our community that the crosses needed work to maintain them in decent condition. After hearing this, the owner of a local injection molding company took it upon himself to have his guys design some dies, and did a very impressive run of high-quality plastic crosses that would hold up to the multiple handling, and weather conditions they would be subjected to. Noticing that the crosses looked fantastic...but still needing the names...the local Signs Now shop donated each and every name in vinyl lettering to be added to the crosses. I did my part by taking the hand written list of Veterans created SO many years ago, and converting them into a computer database.

It was quite an eery and humbling experience those few years ago when I did the list...holding the pages and pages of names. Some of the paper was ancient, and was definitely showing its age. Other sheets were new, and the names in ink were crisp and new. I hadn't retired from the Fire Department yet...and as the guys there saw me working on the list, and realized what I was doing...they pitched in to help. They would take turns reading the names off to me so I could type them in and not have to keep up with my place on the written pages.

I gave the database to the American Legion when I was done, and they keep it updated now. I'm not sure how many names are on the list now...but it is in the thousands. Some gave their lives in battle, but others just passed on when their lives had run their course. ALL were called to serve their country at one point or another in it's history. I am very proud to have played a small part in keeping this tradition alive, and hope that it continues indefinitely.

If you're ever in our area around memorial Day...it's worth making the trip by to see it. There were some vicious storms that came through last night...and as I drove by the park this morning...there were many people out there...along with a City Fire Truck and crew...resetting crosses that had been blown down during the night. Sends a chill through me everytime I think about something like that...at least here...they haven't forgotten yet.

Anyway...just thought I'd share a couple of pics, and invite you to come to Henderson KY sometime to experience it for yourselves if that sort of thing interests you.



Thanks...



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Thank you to all those who have served.

Ok...figured out how to do the image link thing lol... pics are now attached to my original response above!

Thanks Maxx. That looks totally awesome!!!

ThndrChkn wrote:Thanks Maxx. That looks totally awesome!!!

Indeed