Today I attended a Memorial Day parade today. My oldest son was marching in the parade with his school band. There was the usual police and firefighter contingents, local politicians include the Mayor his wife and their dog, the flag waving, throttle revving veterans on motorcycles, an antique car or two, a couples of expensive convertibles with waving passengers, and of course lots and lots of U.S. Veterans. The parade wound around several blocks of the downtown area until it culminated at the grounds of a park district maintained historical mansion that served as a backdrop for the presentation of the colors, the speeches, the prayer rituals, the salutes, and the endless “Thank you” announcements for those that had put so much work into the days festivities. Steely-eyed Veteran representatives from every branch of the military stood up and praised the sacrifices and contributions of so many that had come before them. A table with symbols representing long military traditions was put together before the seated crowd. The single rose, the upside down glasses, the plate with a lemon slice and the salt that represented a families tears, the empty place setting as a sign of respect of those that had fallen. The Mayor began by joking that the shade that the clouds were providing had been order just for the occasion. The crowd politely laughed as the breeze picked up slightly and the clouds thickened and darkened almost imperceptibly. After the Middle School and High School combined bands played the star spangled banner perfectly, the twenty one gun salute launched a handful of young children into crying jags that would outlast the ceremony, and the single bugler played taps from some obscure perch off to the side of the massive porch, and finally the retrieval of the colors which brought the festivities of Remembrance Day to an end. No more than 20 seconds after the crowd stood to exit the grounds, the rain began to soak every square inch of every single object foolish enough to still be without shelter. It rained hard as the marching band members in the black, white and orange uniforms ran for the waiting buses only to be halted by the bottle neck of the bi-folding bus doors. Not even an attack by a foreign invader could have cleared the grounds faster. Rain has the quality of being an equal opportunity drencher without regard for the elderly, those with disabilities, military rank, or even the very young. Rain is kind of like war. It converges on a people without regard to their willingness or ability to escape its wrath. It covers you and assaults your senses with deafening sounds and random strikes from above. It soaks you and the ground in pools of life sustaining, fluid. Rain seems to be as inevitable as war and just as indiscriminant. I was reminded repeatedly today that we are fighting for our own freedom from enemies both home and abroad and also for the freedom of all who wish to share our dream. I couldn’t help but wonder if we hadn’t become the rain and the rest of the world the hapless crowd trying to escape our inevitable onslaught. After a lengthy soaking, the sun returned and once again we were free to go about out lives unimpeded by the rain or the knowledge that we came together to remember those that have passed and the fact that we were humbled by something as unpredictable and inevitable as a spring rain.
I'm glad you attended a memorial day parade. I got up this morning checked my e-mail and wished my good friend luck on his combat sortie, if all goes well I'll see him in 3 weeks.
And what about the "hapless" crowd in a country freed from tyranny by the U.S.? Maybe they still enjoy the rain on their faces? Another attempt to put the U.S. down. I see you can't help yourself! You hate the U.S. you filth. Oooops, I called someone a name again. Oh noooo, the Name-Police are coming after me! MOEN, you missed your chance to light an American flag on fire. I am sure you would have had a lot of sympathy there. Go for it punk.
It certainly was not a big crowd. I don't know what Memorial Day parades are like in other towns but ours wasn't especially well attended. I think over half the people there were just there because their kids were in the band. I know Memorial Day began shortly after the the Civil War, and Veteran's Day began after WWI, but I find the two holidays very similar. I wonder if we actually need both? I'm sure that there are subtle differences between the two but mostly people celebrate them by talking about those that have died in the service. I would guess that rather than enhancing veteran's causes and bringing more attention to veterans, having two holidays dilutes the meaning of both. Fat chance we'll ever combine them into one holiday anytime soon. We'll probably add a third day just for wars in the Middle East. One of the speakers at the ceremony yesterday was some guy that was about to become some big muckety muck for national verterans affairs. He said something that I found interesting during his brief speech. He said that patriotism was under attack in this country and that we had to do more to bring attention to verteran's causes before it was too late. It reminded me of other organizations in this country that state unequivocally that they are under attack from some sector of society even as they are waging attacks themselves and have garnered loads of public attention and influence. One can't help but think about George Orwell when hearing these kinds of pronouncements.
You really are in no position to make any judgements about anyone else. I hope you had a nice holiday John.
AdamL, I try to keep you out of my statements, but you continue to butt in. If you agree with MOEN just go off in the corner with him and DANR and have your circle jerk. I really don't need another person to call a moron. Vete Vete!!!
John, you are like a warm soft puppy. Have I ever said Thank you for my freedom of speech? I owe it all to you. If I can ever repay your kindness, please let me know. You are a very special person.
You don't have to ask me for anything jerkass. Just be thankfull you have a voice wrong or right!!!!! Whoever gave it to you...
I'm not taking either side. Just pointing out some craziness. I don't hate you, or anything, the way you hate Moen. But I'm very surprised that you haven't suicide bombed some democrats yet.
I owe it all to you John my friend and buddy. Thanks again big guy! CoinTalk is lucky to have you as a contributor. We don't deserve you. I for one, am glad you are here. Until next time best buddy....:smile :smile :smile :smile
Thank you so much John. I really appreciate your perspective. You have so much wisdom to share. I want to be just like you when I grow up. Thanks again John old buddy and pal.:hug: :hug:
