Memorial Day

I have only been to Arlington National Cemetery a couple of times in my life. One of them was on Memorial Day weekend, 1986. Memorial Day is, I believe, the only time during the year when there are flags on all of the graves.(picture here). It is a stunning sight.

I've never worn the uniform. I haven't lost any close friends or loved ones. The practical effect of Memorial Day on me, as with many in this country, is a 3-day weekend.

But even for those of us who haven't suffered those losses, it's important to remember, to give thanks for what we've been given.

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

Thank God for those men, better men than me, who gave the full measure of themselves to allow us the freedoms we prize today.




Large Bill has got some links to good Memorial Day pieces today...