Now They Understand what Memorial Day is About

 

Today was Memorial Day, so my physical workout was a long bike ride which had occasion to encounter not one, but two Memorial Day parades, one for my own hamlet of residence and the other one, which stepped off three hours earlier, for the adjoining hamlet.

They had the usual marching groups, including but not limited to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Fire Department, VFW, Knights of Columbus, and the local high school marching band.  Because the local high school draws from both hamlets, the marching band did a double header and marched in both Memorial Day parades.

Each parade stepped off from its respective staging area in a shopping center parking lot, each marched along the road to its hamlet's respective veteran's memorial, at which each parade concluded with a memorial program recognizing the sacrifices of the fallen servicemen (and at least one servicewoman).

I attended the second ceremony, after which I struck up a conversation with a woman with whom I share a number of mutual acquaintances.  Her daughter, who plays clarinet in the high school marching band, came up to us after the ceremony.  She and her bandmates all stood at attention during each of the ceremonies; she was somewhat dismayed at the longwindedness of the speakers at the first ceremony, which lasted nearly 45 minutes.  The second ceremony was about half of that duration.

The daughter commented to her mother that, having stood at solemn attention, she understood the significance of Memorial Day in a way much unappreciated by many of the crowd of onlookers.  It is quite likely that the experience will have made a lifetime impression upon this fine young lady.

Another suggestion I heard was that those who will be lighting up their barbecues for Memorial Day should consider placing an empty chair at the picnic table, in recognition of the soldier who will not be joining the repast.

Honoring Just One Soldier

Went to a funeral a few days ago.  The departed, a member of our congregation, was up in years and down in health.  We gave her a proper burial, for which the family is quite grateful.  As far as funerals go, this one was not particularly remarkable (this said without in any way negating or minimizing the importance of the decedent's life deeds).

But near where we buried the deceased, I noticed a gravestone for a soldier killed in action during WWII.  My camera was in my car, so, then and there, I decided to honor just one fallen soldier.  I snapped a photo of the gravestone, and then posted it on Find A Grave.

Barack Hussein Obama continues to diss America's veterans, and our fallen war heroes.  I know that I have done the right thing by honoring one of them.  And if a presidential insult to one is an insult to all, then surely a humble citizen's according of honor to one is an honor to all.

I have honored just one American soldier, and by doing so, have honored all of our soldiers and vets.

To all of the men and women now serving in uniform, remember that we are behind you all the way!

An Important Person

I was in Pennsylvania yesterday and this morning. Returning home was a challenge, what with all of the flooding, but I am now safe and sound back home.

Yesterday, en route from my morning appointment, the car in which I was sitting was approaching an intersection, and the driver, an old friend of mine, noticed a funeral procession approaching from the left, the cars bearing a suction-cupped purple "Funeral" flag. He said, "I wonder who they're burying now?"

I, of course, had no idea, but counted 7 cars after the hearse, and speculated, correctly, that they were headed to the well-known cemetery about 2 miles down the road which was at the next intersection.

The car in front of us turned on his lights and flashers and latched on to the procession. My friend wondered aloud whether he should do likewise, and thus be given pass to go through the numerous stop signs along the road to the cemetery.

I told him to go for it, which he did. We probably could have made slightly better time via an alternate route, what with the slow speed of the funeral cortege (but we got to go through the stop signs). But I think that we did the right thing.

First of all, at Jewish funerals (which this was definitely not), those who attend the services at the funeral home but who, for whatever reason, do not go to the cemetery afterward, often follow the hearse for three steps in order to participate, at least symbolically, in escorting the deceased to the final resting place.

Secondly, along similar logic, we and the car in front of us raised the number of cars following the hearse from 7 to 9, an increase of not quite 29 percent. Note that the more cars a bystander sees following the hearse, the more important they will believe the decedent was in life. Anyone who sees a hearse followed by a long string of cars in the funeral procession invariably thinks, "hey, I don't know who they are burying, but it must really be someone important!"

So our car and the other tag-along increased the decedent's importance rating by 29 percent.

May the decedent, whomever he or she was, rest in peace!