Gratias ago tibi, maiorum meus

And all that is left of her soldier boy true,

Are his sword and his cap and the red, white and blue.

If you are able to read them, those are the words on the front of this post card. On the back, this is handwritten. "May Happiness Be Thine."  There is no stamp, so the card cannot have been mailed. In the address area, all that has been written are these words: "To 5378. From 4315." Nothing else about the card is known, but it has the appearance of originating sometime between the 1880s and the World War I era. I would hazard a guess that the flag has 48 stars, which would place it between 1912 and 1959, so probably the first world war period is the most likely. If it were not for the presence of the word "boy," I would speculate that the woman is a grieving wife. But, the word "boy" might place it in the context of a mother mourning a lost son.

A day to remember & to honor

I have noted Memorial Day a few times here before, and do so again today wondering what I can say that I have not said in an earlier post.

I suppose all I can say is that I hope everyone will reach into their inner-most feelings to offer a sincere and a heart-felt thank you to each and every individual who has worn a uniform in defense of their country and a prayer for those whose lives were lost.

There are two film presentations here. One can accurately be described as an emblematic Memorial Day offering. It is commentary by James Mattis, a retired four-star, Marine Corps general and one time Secretary of Defense, and includes words from poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Semper Fidelis, Chaos ....

The poem, "Dulce et Decorum Est," by Wilfred Owen is here, as well, read by Tom O'Bedlam. The poem centers upon a chlorine gas attack during the "War to End All Wars." The title of the poem came from Ode 3.2 of the Roman poet Horace and the closing lines, "Dulce et decorum est  /  Pro patria mori," which translate to this: "It is sweet and honorable to die for the fatherland." Owen was killed in action on November 4, 1918, during the crossing of the Sambre–Oise Canal a week before the signing of the Armistice which ended the war.

Make of the poem what you will ....

Over the years, Memorial Day has evolved so that it also has become a time for remembering departed family members and ancestors, as well as for honoring members of the armed forces who demonstrated "freedom is not free." As you read this, I will be about 150 miles from my "camp" putting flowers on a few graves and thanking the occupants for being part of the chain which brought me into the world.

Gratias ago tibi, maiorum meus ....

"Someday baby, you'll be blue ...."

      

Bobby Vee and Dion DiMucci and Eddie Cochran were among the early stars of rock 'n' roll ....

  

The early rockin' years

Where were you on February 3, 1959?

Cannot remember?

Were not born yet?

Never mind. I am not telling, either. I simply always have wanted to start a post like that and figured this is a good opportunity.

According to rock 'n' roll mythology, that is "the day the music died." It was the day Buddy Holly (Charles Hardin Holley) and Ritchie Valens (Richard Steven Valenzuela) and The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry "J.P." Richardson Jr.), were killed in an airplane crash after performing at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, the evening before.

The musicians were in the midst of their "Winter Dance Party Tour," which included stops in places like Mankato and Duluth and Montevideo and Saint Paul, all in Minnesota, as well as a number of other Midwestern "ballrooms." Ordinarily in those days tour transportation was by bus, but for various reasons that night, Holly and the others were en route by flying for the next concert stop in Moorhead, Minnesota.

They never made it. They died in an Iowa cornfield.

Lesser known about that tale is the fact that another musician's success story began with the death of Holly and the others.

Robert Thomas Velline, a 15-year-old high school student from Fargo, North Dakota, who became professionally known as Bobby Vee, was one of the musicians who filled in for the missing performers at the Moorhead concert. Vee and a band composed of Fargo schoolboys calling themselves the Shadows answered a request for musicians to play in place of those killed in the Iowa crash. The group filled in for Holly and his band. Their performance was a success and started Vee's career as a popular singer/song writer.

Some of Vee's notable songs are "Suzie Baby" / "Devil or Angel" / "Rubber Ball"  / "Take Good Care of My Baby" /  "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" ....

Another significant name in the world of rock was on the tour. Singer/song writer Dion Francis DiMucci had chosen not to travel on the plane which crashed, and did perform. Dion still makes music, and my assumption is most "elders" of the rock community have heard any number of his songs and probably danced to "Runaround Sue."

All this stuff evolved from having stumbled onto Bobby Dylan singing "Suzie Baby," one of Vee's most popular songs, on a video from a concert in Saint Paul a couple of years ago. Vee was among those in the audience. In 1959, while Dylan still was Robert Zimmerman, he performed twice with Vee as the piano man using the name Elston Gunnn. Incidentally, my opinion is that Dylan's rendition of "Suzie" is the worst cover I ever/ever/ever have heard. Simply pathetic ....

The question popped into my mind: Is Bobby Vee still alive? The answer is no, he is not.

Vee continued performing live until 2011 when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. His final recordings were released in 2014. He underwent treatment for Alzheimer's in a long-term care facility in Rogers, Minnesota, near Minneapolis. He died from complications of the disease at age 73 on October 24, 2016.

So, just for fun and a feel for some "old time rock 'n' roll," here is Bobby Vee singing his song, "Suzie Baby," and a taste of New Yorker Dion with "Runaround Sue." Another rock star born and raised in this neck of the woods was Ray Edward "Eddie" Cochran, originally from Albert Lea, Minnesota. Present, too, is Cochran singing, "Long Tall Sally." Cochran was killed at age 21 on April 17, 1960, in a single-vehicle accident in England just as his career was beginning to blossom.

By the way, Suzie baby .... where are you?

Today is the day ....

Since I have not been in a "mood for creativity" for some time now, I decided to utilize the work of others to take note of Mother's Day in the United States and several other countries. The illustration is a painting by Claude Monet, one of my "favored," and shows his wife, Camille Doncieux Monet, and their son, Jean. The piece is entitled "Woman with a Parasol" and was done in 1875. Also included is a poem by Carl Sandburg. It is the third of three published in 1916 in "Poems Done on a Late Night Car" under the title of "Home." Finally, there are two videos, the first written by John Lennon about his mother, Julia, and the second composed by James Coats in 1942 and performed here by Dolly Parton / Linda Ronstadt / Emmylou Harris. It is called "The Sweetest Gift" -- with the gift, of course, a mother's smile for her child. My own mother departed in 2012 and I miss her and appreciate her more with each passing year. I do not think of myself as having been a very good son, but I did make it a point to call her each and every mother's day even when I was far/far away .... there should be a message in those words, and today is the day ....

"Poems Done on a Late Night Car .. Home" by Carl Sandburg

Here is a thing my heart wishes the world had more of:

I heard it in the air of one night when I listened 

To a mother singing softly to a child 

restless and angry in the darkness.