Memorial Day 2006 In Pictures

(Click the pictures to see a larger version)
Monday morning found Mini-Uzz, my mother and myself in Rosemound Cemetery in Waco to honor those who have fought for our many freedoms that we all take for granted. Rosemound is where my father is buried, along with hundreds of veterans of many wars.
I wanted to make sure my son went to this so that he could get a glimpse of man like this picture to your left. A man who felt that he would be happy to give the ultimate sacrifice to make sure that my son has the luxury of living in freedom. A man who apparently survived being a POW and no doubt endured hardship...all for me and all for you.
There were men (and women) there who were present who were moved to tears...whether for their own life or for those friends and comrades who never got to come back and enjoy the fruits of their labors. This man, from California was deeply moved by the experience and was just one of a ton of veterans that were on hand to share.
There were those from more recent conflicts, like this veteran of Desert Storm, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with other vets from other wars and from other branches of our amazing Armed Services...good natured rivalry between branches is normal, but this day they stood as one.
There were those from older wars...wars that spilled so much blood that most of them will not even speak of those times even to their own families. My father fought in WWII and the Korean War and rarely ever spoke of the horrors he saw at D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge and his capture in Belgium...and later he was sent to help cleanup in Japan.
There were family members and friends who mourned their losses and who looked for solace in their grief and remembrance of those have departed us.
And there were the traditional ways of honoring fallen heroes like this man who walked the riderless horse through the cemetery...the horse was adorned with the boots of his father and I told him that I knew it had to be an amazing feeling to get to have that honor in the name of his father...the crowd did not know how personal it was, but the only person it mattered to was this man.
There were other ways that our fallen heroes were remembered, like the 21 gun salute...though I will admit ignorance on this...I like this shot as it looks as though the Marine turned away from the others is meant to represent a fallen comrade...correct me on that if I am wrong, but I found the photo more powerful than the actual rifles being fired.
So the Memorial Day service was amazing! There were politicians that spoke, but never got political...there were survivors who spoke and cried and broke down as they retold the stories of their service and of the service of those who never came home to loved ones, parades or the white picket fence.
As for me...I was there to honor my hero...my father...who was laid to rest in this cemetery in 1968. A man I never knew in life, but who I know in spirit and in appreciation of what he did. This photo shows the final resting place of man who was given a huge military funeral upon his death...a man who never really wanted to leave the military and found the real world more difficult than that of staring down death in a foxhole. His life was huge and he made a difference...something I feel I lack everyday.
Thankfully my mother was just as strong and managed to raise all of her four kids without ever complaining. Here she shares a laugh with Mini-Uzz as they sat far away from the main proceedings. My mother does not like to be around a ton of people, so she chose this spot under a tree near my father's headstone.
I hope all of you went out and expressed your thanks to our brave men and women...their chosen profession is the reason we are the greatest nation on this Earth. May God bless all those in harms way and thanks to those who gave all.

Uzz

Comments

[fantastagirl]

What a great post - and tribute to your dad. The pictures are great! Thanks for commenting on my blog...and I have thanked my Grandpa's, my Dad, my cousins and friends for their service, not only in words, but by the way I live and am teaching my kids. It's the only thing I can do.

[Sondra]

Wonderful post, Uzz, and AMAZING pictures. They made me a little teary. Thanks for sharing.

[Cullen]

Hey Uzz, great stuff. I'm not sure what the Marine in the photo is doing. I've been to a lot of memorial events and have never seen someone step aside like that -- but it could be a Marine thing. I know that color guards, funeral details and the like have some flexibility in how they do things.

Here are a couple of site with more info on the 21-gun salute:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21-gun_salute

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/faq/salute.htm

[Joye]

Beautiful. Thanks.

[Robbie]

Wow. I wish I'd seen these pictures sooner. How powerfully moving.

They remind me of a Patriot Guard Rider mission I was on in Utopia, TX last month ---

We were escorting the casket of Sgt. Weikamp to his final resting place. There were townsfolk lined up all along the 15 miles from his hometown in Utopia to the cemetary in Vanderpool. Standing a part from the crowd, I spotted a n old man wearing a VFW hat, slumped against a lampost, quitely crying as we passed by.

It tore me up.

[Army of Mom]

Hey, I had to revisit this post. I love your pictures and that you took our boy to be part of it. Kids need that. I think the country would be a better place if more parents taught their children these lessons. Thanks.