Being the
old-fashioned sort, I decided phooey on the three-day weekend and to make note
of Memorial Day on its original and traditional date, which from 1868 when it
began as a day to honor and to remember Civil War dead until 1970 was today -- May
30. Along the way, the occasion was extended to honor all war dead and
gradually evolved into a time to also remember family and friends who no longer walk
the surface of the earth. The United States Congress, rationalizing away
actual/factual history, changed the date to the last Monday of May in 1970.
Having once upon a time been in the Marine Corps, I also decided to use a
photograph taken a few years ago of the national cemetery at Quantico,
Virginia. It is a national cemetery for veterans who served in the United States
Armed Forces.
Quantico National
Cemetery is on land bordering Marine Corps Base Quantico. I
spent a few of the toughest, most demanding months of my life at Quantico back in the day. As a side note, there are
seven memorials at this cemetery. A monument to Colonel Merritt "Red Mike" Edson's Raiders was the first
memorial established there. It is dedicated to the 800 members of the First
Marine Raider Battalion, which from August 1942 to October 1943, played a major
role helping American forces push back Japanese troops. This is actual/factual
history.
If you only watch
one of the videos, make it the last one. It will leave you with absolutely no
misunderstandings about any so-called glory of war.
4 comments:
Rørende post Fram.Håper alle disse modige menn og kvinner ikke døde forgjevest.
Beste hilsner
Anita x
We lost so many people during wars. As long as someone will remember and write about them like you are doing it year after year these people will always live in our memories.
Nice post , Fram.
Thank you, Anita ....
I have a thought that anyone and everyone who dies in war essentially dies in vain, and that war is one of the absolutes of living life. That is the twisted way of saying I think war will always be with us -- be part of the human experience, because evil does exist and because the strong often try to exploit those weaker than themselves. All we can do as individuals is stand firm for our beliefs and hope we are right.
I guess one of the benefits of death is never knowing what comes after you are gone ....
Glad to see you here, Anita ....
Thank you, Kaya ....
A philosopher and writer, George Santayana, usually is credited as having said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," and, "Only the dead have seen the end of war." Others probably thought and said words to that effect not long after "we" climbed down out of the trees. I think the words are true words.
I have a long memory and an excellent memory, an feel an obligation to remember those I have met and shared time with on my walk through life -- therefore, I think of them and recall the way they were.
Nice to see you here, Kaya ....
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