What Memorial Day Means

From Us Army STAND TO

Memorial Day is an opportunity for the American public to honor men and women who died while in military service.Memorial Day differs from Veterans Day even though both federal holidays acknowledge military members.

 Veterans Day is an opportunity for Americans to publicly recognize living military veterans while Memorial Day honors just our fallen Service members.

Memorial Day was formally known as Decoration Day and was first observed on May 30, 1868 at Arlington National Ceremony. The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) -- the organization for Civil War Union veterans -- leaders wanted to honor fallen Civil War Service members by decorating their graves. It was widely believed that the GAR chose this date because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. Throughout the next century, Decoration Day continued to be observed on May 30. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day as a national holiday that occurs on the last Monday of May.

Memorial Day 2013

From small town memorials

to national memorials

from the fields at Gettysburg

to Pearl Harbor

from local veterans cemeteries

to the rows at Arlington

America pauses this weekend to honor and remember those who gave their lives in service to our country.



What Heroes Gave 
by
©2001Roger J. Robicheau (Sp 5, US Army)
The Poetic Plumber

Each donned their uniform to be  Defenders of our liberty Their mission sure, their spirits bright Guard freedom’s home, be brave to fight One final day each faced their call Each gave their best enduring all We’ll never know what they went through But know they loved this country true Deep down inside we should all feel What heroes gave, their cost so real We must stay thankful, grateful of The gift of freedom through their love Their loved ones bore the gravest pain What we can’t know, some now sustain To God I pray their pain will cease And each will find long-lasting peace Remember this from year to year What heroes gave – shan’t disappear We’ll never let their special day Their time for honor slip away These brave fought for a nation free If not for them, where would we be?

Memorial Day 2012

Memorial Day

"Dulce et decorum est"

The bugle echoes shrill and sweet,
But not of war it sings to-day.
The road is rhythmic with the feet
Of men-at-arms who come to pray.

The roses blossom white and red
On tombs where weary soldiers lie;
Flags wave above the honored dead
And martial music cleaves the sky.

Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel,
They kept the faith and fought the fight.
Through flying lead and crimson steel
They plunged for Freedom and the Right.

May we, their grateful children, learn
Their strength, who lie beneath this sod,
Who went through fire and death to earn
At last the accolade of God.

In shining rank on rank arrayed
They march, the legions of the Lord;
He is their Captain unafraid,
The Prince of Peace . . . Who brought a sword.

Joyce Kilmer

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Remembering and Honoring those this Memorial day who gave their lives in service to our country.... such as :
My uncle Staff Sgt. John W. ("Bill") Daley

and also remembering, honoring, and keeping their families in prayer, those from our area who gave their lives for our freedom

and those who we've been privileged to stand for as Patriot Guard Riders

and..stretching across the years back to the American Revolution.....honoring and remembering all those who felt the call to 'go for a soldier'.

Memorial Day 2011

From the Arlington website, a poem for Memorial Day

Memorial Day by Michelle R. Keim
As we stand here looking

At the flags upon these graves
Know these flags represent
A few of the true American brave


They fought for their Country
As man has through all of time
Except that these soldiers lying here
Fought for your country and mine


As we all are gathered here
To pay them our respect
Let’s pass this word to others
It's what they would expect


I'm sure that they would do it
If it were me or you
To show we did not die in vein
But for the red, white and blue.


Let’s pass on to our children
And to those who never knew
What these soldiers died for
It's the least we can do


Let’s not forget their families
Great pain they had to bear
Losing a son, father or husband
They need to know we still care


No matter which war was fought
On the day that they died
I stand here looking at these flags
Filled with American pride.


So as the bugler plays out Taps
With its sweet and eerie sound
Pray for these soldiers lying here
In this sacred, hallowed ground.


Take home with you a sense of pride
You were here Memorial Day.
Celebrating the way Americans should
On this solemnest of days.
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on this Memorial day, honoring my father's oldest brother, who fell in WW II,
Staff Sgt. John W.(Bill) Daley

and honoring also those whose stories, and families, have for various reasons stayed in my heart over the years of war, such as Capt Maria I Ortiz ,  SFC Shawn Dostie ,  2nd Lt Christopher E. Loudon ,
Staff Sgt Christopher R Morningstar , and Staff Sgt Solomon T. Sam

remembering Lance Cpl Daniel T. Morris , and
 Pfc Thomas R. Wilson

Also, remembering the fallen from our local area:
Marines
Lance Cpl. Daniel Bubb

Lance Cpl Jason Redifer

Lance Cpl Jourdan Grez

Army
Spc Brian (Bucky) Anderson

and keeping all of their families in our thoughts and prayers, most especially on this Memorial Day.

From last Memorial Day until the video below was made on May 23 this year, 549 men and women have perished in the wars being fought by our American Heroes serving in the Armed Forces




There have already been more names added to this list since May 23.


Let us not forget their sacrifice, or their names, or their grieving families.

For Memorial Day 2010

Freedom is Not Free by Kelly Strong

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.



A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He'd stand out in any crowd.




I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?



How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.



I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin

Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,

Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea



Of unmarked graves in Arlington.




No, freedom isn't free.




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Please remember this Memorial Day that the day is
a day of Remembrance for those who have died in our Nation's service.

Please also consider observing the National Moment of Remembrance
at 3:00 pm on Memorial Day.