What is Memorial Day? Why? -- Pics...

[Breeze54]

http://virtual-markets.net/vme/memorial/dvm_mem.html

Memorial Day and Labor Day are bookend holidays,

marking the beginning and end of the summer holidays in the United States.

These three-day weekends traditionally are times for celebration and family outings.

Celebrated in most states on the last Monday in May,

Memorial Day is a time to remember the U.S. men and woman who lost their lives

serving their country.

Originally known as Decoration Day, it was established in 1868 to commemorate

the dead from the Civil War.

Over the years it came to serve as a day to remember all U.S. men and women

killed or missing in action in all wars.

PEACEWEB
http://www.quaker.org/peaceweb/

PeaceCorp Homepage
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm

Women's Resources for Waging Peace
http://www.womenwagingpeace.net/content/resources.asp

http://www.civilwarletters.com/home.html
Letters from an Iowa Soldier in the Civil War

Diary of the Gulf War by Robert Werman
http://historicaltextarchive.com/books.php?op=viewbook&bookid=24

A Memorial Day Salute - http://www.thisnation.com/question/030.html

Instead of a question and answer, it is appropriate this Memorial Day to salute all those
who have given their lives in defense of this nation. Without their sacrifices we would not
be free to ask questions, to challenge our political leaders and to take an active role in
our system of government. To them we owe an unrepayable debt.

The United States of America was born from the blood and ashes of war-
-the Revolutionary War of 1776.
It was fought to defend the "self-evident" truth
"that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Those who fought and died were committed to the notion that government derives its
"just powers from the consent of the governed" and that when a government does not
protect the unalienable rights of the people,
it is the "Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,
and to institute new Government,
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form,
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."



How to Observe Memorial Day
http://www.usmemorialday.org/observe.htm

The "Memorial" in Memorial Day has been ignored by too many of us who are beneficiaries
of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Often we do not observe the day as it
should be, a day where we actively remember our ancestors, our family members,
our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice:

* by visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.

* by visiting memorials.

* by flying the U.S. Flag at half-staff until noon.

* by flying the 'POW/MIA Flag' as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act).

* by participating in a "National Moment of Remembrance": at 3 p.m. to pause and think
upon the true meaning of the day, and for Taps to be played.

* by renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our falled dead,
and to aid the disabled veterans.

THE HISTORY CHANNEL - Memorial Day
Explores the Civil War-era origins of the holiday as well as
little-known facts about America's wars....
www.historychannel.com/exhibits/memorial/

Gold Star Families Speak out
http://www.gsfso.org/pages/20/index.htm

http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/
Defense Secretary: "Lots of Warnings" Prior to 9/11
Also mentions something about a missile...
http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/rumsfeld-warnings.htm

Photos of Military Coffins
http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/coffin_photos/dover/


"Boycott big oil on Memorial Day weekend
By Glenn Bormann, Davenport | Comments(0)
Gas is $3 a gallon and going up. This cannot continue.
If you’re on minimum wage you cannot afford to go to work.
After Katrina, gas prices skyrocketed and oil companies raked in millions in profit.
The Bush-Cheney administration and their oil company cronies aren’t about to help us.
As consumers we need to unite. It may be radical, but we need a nationwide strike all
Memorial Day weekend. We will boycott all gas stations from Friday through Tuesday.
Call in sick, take vacation days, just stay home with the family and neighbors.
Our fallen comrades have sacrificed for us, now we need to sacrifice a weekend for ourselves."

United States Vietnam Memorial


http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
S t a t e m e n t o f P u r p o s e

BRING THEM HOME NOW! is a campaign of military families, veterans, active duty personnel,
reservists and others opposed to the ongoing war in Iraq and galvanized to action by
George W. Bush's inane and reckless challenge to armed Iraqis resisting occupation to
"Bring 'em on."

Our mission is to mobilize military families, veterans, and GIs themselves to demand:
an end to the occupation of Iraq and other misguided military adventures;
and an immediate return of all US troops to their home duty stations.

[unhappycamper]

1. Excellent post!

Thank you.

K :kick: & R

[dogday]

2. Absolutely wonderful!

thank you for taking the time to post this :hi:

[Breeze54]

9. Thank you dogday...

... it sort of took on a life of it's own...

:hi: backatcha!

Hope you have a great weekend!

[Breeze54]

3. Cher (of Sunny & Cher) calling into C-Span

Cher calling into C-Span

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2003/10/27/11625/785

Cher:... Uh, I would like to say I had the occasion the other day to spend the entire
day with troops that had come back from iraq and had been wounded and, um, I also visited
troops during the Vietnam era--but the thing that I was most shocked by, um, as I walked
into the hospital the first person I ran into was a boy about 19 or 20 years old who'd
lost both of his arms. And when I walked into the hosptial and visited all these boys all
day long, uh, everyone had lost either one arm, one limb or two limbs or had lost one limb
and there were, there were a lot of legs that seemed to be missing and a couple of the boys
told me it was because that their vehicles, that the rockets pierce the vehicles so much it's
like being kind of in a tin can. It doesn't have, there isn't, the walls of the humvees are
very soft and there's no protection. But three guys in the same vehicle have lost a leg.
And another thing that I saw was that, um, if they'd lost one leg that, that shrapnel that
had hit the other leg had been so devastating that they were having to pull like the thigh,
you know, the muscle and the thigh around the bottom of the calf to try to make the leg
workable, but in some cases these boys had lost one leg, and the other leg was so damaged
that they weren't sure what they were gonna be able to do.

C-Span Moderator: Where did you spend the day?

Cher: Walter-Reed.

Source: C-Span, 27 Oct 2003. Link. Posted 18 Dec 2003.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-0/106593645334800.xml

Explosions shatter and sever legs and arms. They char flesh and drive debris deep
into the soft tissue that remains. Unattached muscles, nerves and tendons dangle.
Red-hot shrapnel sometimes punctures torsos below waist-length body armor, ripping
bowels and bladders. Concussions bruise skulls and brains. Soldiers thrown into the
air are injured again when they hit ground.

Source: Wood, David. "Amputees Returning to Duty." Times-Picayune, 12 Oct 2003. Link.
Posted 20 Oct 2003.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/wounded/gallery.htm

Military Personnel Wounded in Iraq & Afghanistan:
A Photo Gallery (warning: 2 of the photos are graphic)


José Martinez

Most Americans haven't seen the growing legion of wounded troops returning from Iraq
who are cared for at military facilities sealed off from the public. The media, in
turn, have focused on the hit-and-run guerrilla attacks that claim one or two GIs in
Iraq almost daily. Little attention has been paid to the long, difficult and very
personal struggles that ensue in wards at BAMC and Walter Reed Army Medical Center
in Washington.

Source: Christenson, Sig. "Soldiers, Marines work to recover from war injuries at BAMC."
San Antonio Express-News, 18 Aug 2003. Link http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=1041406


Robert Jackson


Albert Ross

Watch this video - (might not work)

CODE PINK
http://www.codepinkalert.org//index.php





http://cryptome.net/dead/dead-gallery.htm

http://www.the7thfire.com/Iraq_War/us_war_crimes_in_iraq.htm

[Breeze54]

4. "Conscientious Objector"

http://www.duckdaotsu.org/rows.html

First Burial of US Soldier from Iraq Invasion


http://www.duckdaotsu.org/conscientiousobjector.html

"Conscientious Objector"
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

I shall die, but
that is all that I shall do for Death.
I hear him leading his horse out of the stall;
I hear the clatter on the barn-floor.
He is in haste; he has business in Cuba,
business in the Balkans, many calls to make this morning.
But I will not hold the bridle
while he clinches the girth.
And he may mount by himself:
I will not give him a leg up.

Though he flick my shoulders with his whip,
I will not tell him which way the fox ran.
With his hoof on my breast, I will not tell him where
the black boy hides in the swamp.
I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death;
I am not on his pay-roll.

I will not tell him the whereabout of my friends
nor of my enemies either.
Though he promise me much,
I will not map him the route to any man's door.
Am I a spy in the land of the living,
that I should deliver men to Death?
Brother, the password and the plans of our city
are safe with me; never through me Shall you be overcome.

[dogday]

5. Kicking in remembrance of those who are no longer here.........

[puerco-bellies]

6. Rest in peace, my brothers and sisters.

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;

Christina Georgina Rossetti

:cry:

[unhappycamper]

7. Kick to get off page four.

:kick:

[Breeze54]

8. Thank you unhappycamper....

.... please add some of your memorials too!
:hug:

[unhappycamper]

10. a kick for the Thursday evening crowd.

:kick:

[Breeze54]

11. National Cemetery Memorial Day Ceremonies 2006

National Cemetery Memorial Day Ceremonies 2006
This listing is in alphabetic order by state.
Select the name of the state in which the cemetery is located.
Please note that there is not a VA national cemetery in every state.
http://www.cem.va.gov/memday06.htm

Memorial Day events in and around the nation's capital:

* Rolling Thunder “Ride For Freedom” - Sunday, May 28, noon

* PBS' National Memorial Day Concert - Sunday, May 28, 8 pm

* Arlington National Cemetery - Monday, May 29, 11 am

* Navy Memorial - Monday, May 29, 1:00 p.m.

* Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Monday, May 29, 1:00 pm

* National Memorial Day Parade - Monday, May 29, noon - 2 pm

* Women in Military Service to America Memorial - Monday, May 29, 4 pm
http://www1.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/index.asp


List of State Veterans Cemetaries
This listing is in alphabetical order by state.
Select the letter of the name of the state in which the cemetery is located.
http://www.cem.va.gov/lsvc.htm

[unhappycamper]

12. First weekend kick.

Many more to come, I hope.