Memorial Day 2008: To Our Soldiers

Always on my mind is how blessed we are that Captain Dad returned safely to us from Iraq. And doubly blessed that all his men returned home, too. Other units, operating in similar areas, with similar missions met with ill luck.

Memorial Day is about remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation and also acknowledging their impact on our lives--the freedoms we cherish, the peace we enjoy, and also the spirits that will always surround us.

And this day is also about their families--who carry the weight of that sacrifice.

This day is about those who have passed, but it is also about our living veterans.

Surrounding that soldier, young and strong, head bowed in respect; or that soldier, old and stoic in the neatly pressed remainders of his uniform; or that soldier, out of uniform, but always a warrior...is a phalanx of comrades and a platoon of memories.

With their fallen gone to glory, these survivors bear witness and carry that burden of the lives unlived.

What these survivors sacrificed and lost along the way, as our guardians, our proxies, and sadly at times our scapegoats, we civilians, even those of us who have loved a soldier, may never know or understand.

Here's a health to the dead already, and here's to the next one that dies...

Links and Blog Posts About Memorial Day:

• Memorial Day (VA)
  
• In Observance of Memorial Day, a Thirteen Thursday (COPD)
  
• 10 Things to Remember About Memorial Day (mental_floss)
  
• How to Observe Memorial Day (Her Christian Blog)
• Five Ways to Celebrate Memorial Day (MilitaryMoms)
• Thirteen Things About Memorial Day (It is nap time)
  
• Memorial Day, the Great War, and America’s Last Surviving World War I Veteran (HNN)
  

Due to the abuse of Mr. Linky, I am just putting the relevant added links below:

1. Table for Five
2. Trish
3. Trish (eMOM)
4. Leaner
5. kbug


Those who abuse Mr. Linky and leave unrelated commercial links, especially on a post honoring our fallen soldiers, shame on you.