| |
US Memorial Day
Graphic from the American Memories project
at the Library of Congress website: Soldier's
Memorial Day,"
words by Mary B.C. Slade and music by W.O. Perkins, 1870. Historic
American Sheet Music,1850-1920
DearREADERS,
This coming Monday will be celebrated in the US as "MEMORIAL DAY" the
day set aside to honor our military servicemen and women who gave the ultimate
sacrifice while in the line of duty.
"Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on
5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the
Republic, in his General Order No. 11 <http://www.usmemorialday.org/order11.html>
, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves
of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery." http://www.usmemorialday.org/
 NATIONAL MOMENT OF REMEMBRANCE "To help
re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the
"National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000
which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and
informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing
from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to
'Taps." http://www.usmemorialday.org/
VFW & SHARING POPPIES "In Flander's
Field" describes a battlefield of crosses dotted with red poppies. The poem
deeply touched the nation and the world, and, from that point on, poppies became
known throughout the world as a memorial flower, a reminder of the lives lost in
wartime."
|
IN FLANDERS FIELDS
By John McCrae, 1915.
In Flanders fields the
poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the
foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. |
"Selling replicas of the original Flanders'
poppy originated in some of the allied countries immediately after the
Armistice. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League began the first
nationwide sale of poppies to benefit children in the devastated areas of France
and Belgium." http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=cmty.leveld&did=128
Whatever your circumstances, wherever you live,
please take time to remember your friends and neighbors, and your ancestors
whose lives have been affected by war. Let the prayer of every loving mother
come forth -- that there will be peace in the land, and that her sons and
daughters can be recalled from the battlefield.
If you'd like to listen to more free patriotic
music see: http://www.prairiefrontier.com/pfcards/Xtrapgs/patriotic.html
Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
6023 26th Street West PMB 352
Bradenton, FL 34207
http://www.DearMYRTLE.com
|
