Memorial Day Weekend

To all who have lost loved ones in or out of war, here's wishing you a weekend of peace.

And to all of those who gave the last full measure in protecting that peace, our everlasting gratitude.

Sam

To all those who served, thank you! We would not have what we have, if not for the sacrifices you made.

Pete

This is a day, I worry, that will fall by the wayside as the years go by. I am the wife of a VietNam vet, the daughter of a Navy man who served in the South Pacific during WWII along with his brothers,and the daughter in law of an Army Seargent who won a bronze star in WWII in the Battle of the Bulge, and wore those scars until he died at the age of 48.

I remember spending the mornings of Memorial Day walking through the cemetary where all our family and friends were buried. It was like old home week, showing respect to all those who came before me.

Now, I still go to those cemetary and there is hardly anyone there. My husband had to fight with Veteran's Administration to get them to put flags
on my Father in Law's grave, and his Fathers.

None of us would be here without them. Respecting those before us, I thank God for those before us. I am here, right now, because of their sacrifices. Thank you for reminding everyone of this wonderful day.

Rosalie

Rosalie,

You've given a great example of why it's so important for us to remember, respect and keep the meaning of Memorial Day going forward.

I have great hope that people will wake up, if only because there are those of us who won't forget and will remind others.

I'm here, able to live a good life because of those who sacrificed all for me though they would never know me at all.

That is worthy of a life-long gratitude and at the very least a special day of observance.

To all; Let's each one of us acknowledge our debt to those that have served and payed the ultimate price for us in some way this weekend.

Regards

RosalieTCeltics wrote:This is a day, I worry, that will fall by the wayside as the years go by. I am the wife of a VietNam vet, the daughter of a Navy man who served in the South Pacific during WWII along with his brothers,and the daughter in law of an Army Seargent who won a bronze star in WWII in the Battle of the Bulge, and wore those scars until he died at the age of 48.

I remember spending the mornings of Memorial Day walking through the cemetary where all our family and friends were buried. It was like old home week, showing respect to all those who came before me.

Now, I still go to those cemetary and there is hardly anyone there. My husband had to fight with Veteran's Administration to get them to put flags
on my Father in Law's grave, and his Fathers.

None of us would be here without them. Respecting those before us, I thank God for those before us. I am here, right now, because of their sacrifices. Thank you for reminding everyone of this wonderful day.

Rosalie

This is an excellent post!

Amen.

Ros, last Sunday I marched in the Newton Memorial Day parade. (why a week early I don't know) There was a good turnout thankfully and I saw a lot of people I grew up with. Our group had a float, but we were short marchers and they asked me to walk. At first I said no (hip, back, knees.....) then I thought of Uncle Gene walking in that parade until he was 90 and said bet your ass I'll walk. Before the parade started I met one of the disabled vets, also a POW, who was riding as a guest of honor. I talked to him for a few minutes and happened to look down at the side of the car and there was his name, and my fathers name, spelled out in big letters. Simply humbling.

Rosalie you are one gritty soulful old lady, thank you for sharing that. A high school friend of mine has two sons in Afghanistan, I told her how much in awe I am of her young kids serving like that. I am equally in awe of the sacrifices your family has made, god bless you.

bobc33 wrote:Amen.

Ros, last Sunday I marched in the Newton Memorial Day parade. (why a week early I don't know) There was a good turnout thankfully and I saw a lot of people I grew up with. Our group had a float, but we were short marchers and they asked me to walk. At first I said no (hip, back, knees.....) then I thought of Uncle Gene walking in that parade until he was 90 and said bet your ass I'll walk. Before the parade started I met one of the disabled vets, also a POW, who was riding as a guest of honor. I talked to him for a few minutes and happened to look down at the side of the car and there was his name, and my fathers name, spelled out in big letters. Simply humbling.

jeez bob, I think I owe you dinner.

Bob, your Uncle Gene was one terrific man. My husband lived in awe of him. He was such a gentleman, everytime he saw him he would address him by his full name, he was quite a character.

My husband's best friend from childhood passed away over 12 years ago. He was a devoted City of Newton resident, worked in politics, worked helping children, was everywhere. When he passed away, we decided that we were going to try to get a small playground named after him. With the backing of many, many people in Newton, we got enough signatures to bring to the Board of Aldermen one night. Russ Halloran, the Parks and Recreation director had decided that the playground we should be fighting to have name after him was right behind Davis School in West Newton, where the boys grew up and played every day.

We sat, waiting to make our pitch, when our time came, we submitted the signatures and our request. A lady, who lived on Davis Ave, right across from the school started to fight our petition. She claimed we were fooling around with history and had no right and it would change the "value" of
her home! Out of the blue, your uncle came forth, and gave a history of
Mr. Davis. He had so many things named after him in Newton that your uncle called him the "Johnny Appleseed" of Newton! He informed the lady that it was not the Davis School playground we were trying to rename, it
was the Eden Avenue playground for boys and girls from 6 - 12!!!!
How would we ever know this? He told us to go to the playground and follow the small stone wall along the side of the playground. Sure enough,
there was a plaque, about 10 inches off the ground, on one of the stones with the name of the playground!

She didn't know what to say, we laughed, and within minutes they granted our request! All because of your Uncle, and we never even asked him to come, he heard about it and showed up on his own!

That generation gave us some wonderfull, wonderful people. As Brokaw says, they were truly "The Greatest Generation".

I just wanted to share that with you, and let you know that your Uncle will
never be forgotten in the Troy family!!

Wow, some really cool stuff being shared here. Maybe this board was a community in a previous life. Rosalie, you are a treasure trove of caring and memories.

Sam