I was invited to attend a Memorial Day ceremony today. I had other more important activities to do. You know, the typical activities for this holiday. I really wanted to go to watch a friend take a picture of flowers and turn it into a painting. But an odd set of events happened to change my mind. First my email messed up so I went to Facebook. Now I don't go to Facebook very often, but this time it was different. There was a posting titled "Semper Fi" from a friend who doesn't post very often. It was a video of President Ronald Reagan giving a speech about freedom and there were military people of many generations. The parts that caught my attention the most was Arlington Cemetery with Marines folding the flag after a funeral. Even now the thoughts of that video move me to tears.
My family has strong ties to the military and I consider myself very patriotic. This video reminded me of what this holiday is really about my Mom, Dad, Uncle Leon, and Uncle Harlen. They all served and NEED to be remembered today.
So my day changed, I went to this cemetery. I have passed it Monday - Friday for over 30 years and never stopped to read the historical marker.
The first thing I noticed was the solemn crowd. The families gathered, young and old, to pay tribute to loved ones and friends.
The ceremony began with Call to Assemble by the bugler and the march to the flagpole by Civil War soldiers carrying rifles with flag bearers preceding them.
Then the flag was raised by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, while The National Anthem was sung by 3 young ladies. A Memorial Day speech was given by General John A. Logan's great - great -granddaughter.
The young ladies sang "God Bless America" while tears streamed down my face. Then "General John A. Logan" read General Order #11.
Wreaths were laid at the graves of 5 Civil War soldiers assisted by Girl Scouts. The last wreath was set before the grave of the Unknown Soldier.
The presenter of the wreath to Unknown Soldier was a modern day soldier from Company C, 33rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion.
Then there were Special Military Honors by Company C of the 31st Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
The ceremony ended with the most somber rendition of "Taps" I have ever heard. The crowd left so quietly I was impressed. Then I remembered the picnics we would have on Memorial day. They were in the cemetery while my Mom and Grandma fussed with flowers and straightened around the graves of loved ones.
This was what Memorial Day is all about. Now my challenge to you, where was the first Decoration Day held, what is General Order # 11, and who wrote it??? I didn't know until today and found only one person who could answer the questions. I will reveal it in my next post.
This cemetery is situated between two very busy highways and yet after everyone left I found it very quiet and soothing.
But then every cemetery has it's strife, right??
This is a Civil War cemetery, yes all the graves I found were before 1866! So I found this very interesting!!!
Yes this does not touch the ground!
As Paul Harvey would say "That's the rest of the story".
Thank you for the invitation, Carla!!
No comments:
Post a Comment