May 25, 2020-
The silence, today, was truly deafening.
There were few speeches,
anywhere in the nation.
There were no mass gatherings
of Scouts, Gold Star families,
Scottish Piper Regiments,
and surviving veterans.
all placing flags,
at gravesites.
There were several picnics
and barbecues,
people in boats,
people in swimsuits,
people wishing one another,
“Happy” Memorial Day.
It’s de rigeur, anymore.
I recall the Memorial Days
of my childhood,
watching a parade,
then going to place flowers
at the gravesites
of my grandfathers
and Grama.
There was a quiet,
the rest of the day,
and I recall reflecting,
sometimes worrying about
mortality.
I’m not sure when
things started to change.
Maybe it was the
unpopularity
of our involvements
in the wars that came
after Korea.
There will always be that debate,
but this remains:
Those who went,
and did not come back
alive,
did not make policy.
They deserve better,
than “Happy Memorial Day”.
All gave some;
some gave all.
It was a quiet holiday! All but the 18 WWII planes that did a flyover in much the same pattern as the Thunderbirds last week! There were lots of people on the water and at the beaches here, but otherwise not much going on!
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It was about the same here.
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We had all the band students playing taps on their driveways at 8:30 PM. The sound really carried… my niece and nephew along with their father played – they posted it on FB…. it was good.
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That must have been stirring.
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