[Since traffic will be light over the weekend, what with all of you out there doing the three-day weekend thing - I'm putting up the Memorial Day post today.]
Here we are at Memorial Day again. The eleventh since these ramparts were erected here in cyberspace. Per the Governor's directive, the flags will fly at half-staff until noon, when they will head back up the pole.
It was another mixed year here at the Castle. .
We did fewer memorial posts this year than past years at the Castle, a good thing.
They're gathered here,
In Memoriam.
There is always
Mom and
Dad. It's in living memory of my mother that daffodils are planted all around the Demesne, by the house, in the fields, in the woods.
There is the
Memorial Chapel in the Woods in honor of
Preston.
Piddler's Green has too many new residents. Schroedinger, Little Orphan Annie..., the un-named kids who were born premature and didn't pull through.
And, as always, 2nd Lieutenant Leonard Cowherd III, the Castle's Avatar of the Fallen.
An early casualty of Operation Iraqi Freedom who touched an old friend of mine, Tony Cerri, who's daughter was married to Leonard. And the saga of the Cowherd's and the Cerri's is the reason for the holiday. Len is the Castle's Avatar for Memorial Day. He captures the youthful potential cut short in service beyond himself.
I don't mind the sales. Commerce built this country. I don't mind "Going to the Lake" - having fun with family and friends makes life worth living. And this day is about having a life worth living.
And I know that most of us (though not perhaps those who read this space) have no memory of a loved one lost in war. Many of the younger of us don't remember or never knew a relative who served in time of war.
Have a good time. That's the point.
By living your life, planning your future, you redeem the voucher that those who have answered the Last Call for the last time bought for you.
Their service was *all* about the Capital F Future.
Just by living our lives, and taking an interest in what goes on around us, we pay that debt. We can pay it ahead by keeping an eye on those who commit us to war. And recognizing that avoidance for avoidance's sake is as bad in its way as rushing headlong and blindly into battle. Truly, in this arena, the answer lies in the middle, not at the extremes.
But.
BUT...
Whatever else you do with your free day - Remember Them. It only takes a moment.
But Remember.
They are not truly gone until we forget.
For some of us, the true meaning of this holiday doesn't come into focus until we, or someone we know...
Hears The Knock.
Attends The Funeral.
And Buries Our Dead.
This is why today is Memorial Day.
Click here - and Remember.
This is an open post - if you have posting privileges and wish to add to it - please do. If you don't have posting privileges, feel free to link, or simply remember, in the comments.
Fascinating project using Google Earth - Map the Fallen. H/t, Old Gaijin
Read the complete post at http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2014/05/memorial_day_20_11.html
Posted
May 23 2014, 10:35 PM
by
Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys..