Monday, May 26, 2014

SO I LIED. Sue me.
AND ONE FINAL Memorial Day post.
FOR MEMORIAL DAY, The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
KANSAS SEN. PAT ROBERTS calls out Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and slaps him down hard. Watch the entire video.
COUNTY FAIR FOOD: breakfast and lunch together.

I wonder if it tastes as good as it looks....
THEY'VE NOTICED: Democrats Privately Calling Obama 'Detached', 'Flat Footed', 'Incompetent'.

AND NOW back to regularly-scheduled posting....
MEMORIAL DAY IN MANASSAS. This year, instead of our usual visit to Arlington Cemetery and Rolling Thunder, we went to the National Cemetery in Quantico instead. Here are a couple of pictures:



I was surprised. The Quantico cemetery is large, but mostly drive-through and there is very little off-road parking. It was jammed with people, though it may not seem so from the pictures.

While we were there, we saw a motorcycle riding couple (obviously Vietnam era from Rolling Thunder yesterday) leaving coins on the headstones of some of the graves, so I inquired about the tradition. It's simply a sign of respect from a soldier to a comrade who has died. The denomination of the coin symbolizes the relationship.

The couple also told us about Honor Flight and Wreaths across America. I've had the distinct honor of meeting a few of the WWII veterans at the World War II and Korean War memorials in the past. Next year we hope to be more involved than we have been in the past.

Finally, on the way home, we crossed paths with this lady:


She was simply standing (by herself) quietly holding the flag for passers-by to see. Nothing more. It was a very somber -- and moving -- sight.
MEMORIAL DAY: A carnation lay atop the grave of an unknown Revolutionary War soldier. A reminder.
MEMORIAL DAY:
Friends,

This Memorial Day weekend, in cities and towns all over America, small red paper flowers will be worn and carried by Americans honoring our veterans.

The paper flowers symbolize the poppies WWI veteran John McCrae wrote about in his famous poem, “In Flanders Field,” after being struck by the beauty of the bright red blooms that emerged from the graves of his fellow soldiers.

But it was a Georgia teacher named Monia Michael who began the tradition of wearing the red flower in remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives to protect our freedoms.

She had read a copy of McCrae’s poem in Ladies' Home Journal and then wrote her own poem that said:
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.
Those flowers became her torch. Millions of people, all across the world, have now worn paper poppies to honor the courage of servicemen and servicewomen.

We should all find our own way to carry on the torch of freedom.

May we never forget the lives of each solider; it is their blood that has kept us free. And it is their sacrifice that calls each of us to cherish the gift of liberty.

Please join me in pausing to remember those who have fallen.

We are so grateful that our nation has warriors who defend and protect us from harm.

May God bless you, may God bless Texas, and may God bless the United States of America.
An email message from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
ANOTHER MEMORIAL DAY REMINDER:



President Ronald Reagan recites a letter found on a fallen soldier from WWI.
MARK LEVIN remembers our fallen heroes on this Memorial Day.
MEMORIAL DAY 2014: the Gettysburg address.



As read by Johnny Cash.