"US Memorial Day This Weekend" Topic

[I can't post pics directly from P/bucket so I posted from my other fav website]

link

Thanks for posting. Lest we forget.

I have to admit that I had never heard of it, being UK based.

US Armed Forces Day, yes, but not this. This posting led me to Wiki etc to research the origins of USMD and the choice of date (which I gather is not fixed).

We do Armistice Day (Nov 11th) for both WWs, but the veterans of even the latter are few and far between now. Many a charity event and movement for our veterans of recent wars, but maybe we need to rethink a specific day?

One this day, let us honor the fallen, all those who gave the last full measure of devotion for this great country.

In memory of those that made the ultimate sacrifice. Rest in peace my brothers and sisters.

deadhead,

Memorial Day as pointed out is to remember the military war dead, primarily. This link gives a pretty good history about it. And the other US Military Holidays …

We call Nov., 11, Veterans' Day … to honor the living as well.

Armed Forces Day is as it sounds, to honor the US Military currently active.

We usually celebrate Memorial Day by going to a game convention all weekend. Maybe next year.

I visited the traveling Vietnam wall today. It was tough to hold back the tears. From there my son and I went to the fallen officers memorial, to pay my respects there. It was about five minutes away. It was a day that I won't ever forget. TIG

Though Memorial Day is to honor those who died in active service, let us not forget the many young men and women who returned home from the combat zone with one of more of their limbs missing or other terrible injuries.

One of my Vet buddies sent this to me and other local Vets. A good bit of information … IMO …

Memorial Day inspiration
Nora Fontaine Maury Davidson (February 19, 1836 – February 10, 1929) was an American schoolteacher in Petersburg, Virginia. Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg contained the graves of veterans of six wars, including 30,000 Confederate soldiers killed in the Siege of Petersburg (1864–65) during the American Civil War. After the war ended, Davidson and her school children went to Blandford Cemetery on June 9, 1865 to decorate the graves of the soldiers, commemorating the 125 soldiers who died a year earlier defending Petersburg.[3] One of the graves she cared for was that of her brother, Charles Davidson, a member of Graham'sHorse Artillery, who died on December 25, 1863.[4]

While visiting the cemetery, the wife of Union General John A. Logan, observed Davidson and the students putting flowers and tiny Confederate flags on the graves of soldiers.[5] Upon Mary Logan's return to Washington, D.C. and meeting her husband General Logan at the railroad station, she related the story of her visit to Petersburg and how she was moved by what she witnessed there. Upon hearing her story, General Logan, now the first Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), replied to her that he would work establish this custom of honoring fallen soldiers across the country. He issued an GAR order, establishing a National Decoration Day, which was later passed by Congress. Today it is known as Memorial Day.[5]

In 2014, Bellware and Gardiner dismissed this claim in The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday in America . They point out that General Logan was aware of the southern observances of Memorial Day prior to his wife's trip to Virginia in 1868 and even mentioned those observances in a speech in 1866 [6] Bellware and Gardiner credit Mary Ann Williams and the Ladies Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia as the true originators of the holiday as abundant contemporaneous evidence from across the nation exists to substantiate the claim. In fact, a copy of Mrs. Williams' famous letter urging the ladies of the South to annually decorate the soldiers' graves appeared in a Richmond newspaper more than two months before Miss Nora and her school children acted on the request.[7]

As some know, Columbus, GA is where Ft. Benning is, the home of the US Army Infantry, Ranger, Parachute, and Pathfinder schools. As well as a number of other courses and schools. I was at Benning 2 times for training, and finally assigned to the Mech Hvy Bde there, that was part of the 18th ABN Corps. I was there in the '80s. And recall a CSA Cemetery nearby in Columbus GA.

Let us all hold a moment of silence at 1500 today in memory
and honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for
this country since 1775. You will never be forgotten.