Saturday, May 25, 2013

Memorial Day ~ Decoration Day

Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13


Memorial Day ~ a time of remembrance for those who died in service for their country.  It was originally called Decoration Day as the women would decorate the graves of the Civil War veterans.  This vintage postcard pictures a little girl doing just that.  I wrote this particular post last year but feel it is worth repeating again for this Memorial Day weekend.   




The caption on this next vintage postcard reads:
Let the Stars and Strips be waving o'er their generous sacrifice.




But his soul goes marching on.



My father was a veteran, and my husband is as well.  I am proud of their service to our country.  Our town celebrates Memorial Day with a small parade.  They stop at one point on their route and throw a floral wreath into the ocean to remember those whose lives were lost at sea. 




The following poem was written during World War I, by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, who was a soldier, physician, and poet.  It is written from the point of view of the dead, and spoke of their sacrifice and served as their command to the living to press on.  You can read more about this poem **here**
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.




This post is linked to:  Anything Blue Friday,




7 comments:

  1. BEAUTIFUL POST ABBY!!!!!! LOVE the old post cards!!!! :) THANK YOU!!!!!!!! :)

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  2. Thank you for these Memorial Day cards. I'm Canadian but I and many other Canadians are very grateful for the service of the US, our close friend. Just a little FYI, Colonel John McCrae comes from my hometown of Guelph, Ontario. There is a park in the city that has a small replica of his home and a memorial as well. Have a blessed weekend!
    Blessings, Diane

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  3. Hi Abby, you have such a beautiful blog! I really enjoyed your post today, especially the WWI poem about Flander's Field. I also appreciated the previous post about electronic distractions. This is so very true. I have been making this a goal for myself the last few months and it has helped me a great deal. Sometimes it can just sneak up on me and I don't realize how much of my energy that I using up on the computer. Being balanced really helps because then when I have something to write about, it is so much more meaningful. Thank you again for all the sweet comments you left over on my Chronically Living blog, I sure have appreciated them! I was rereading them tonight and I just wanted to let you know how much they touched my heart. I have been taking a little break from writing on that blog and was surprised to see so much time had gone by. You have really inspired me to get busy and start writing on the blog again. I hope you are having a nice spring so far and that a lovely weekend awaits. With Love, Delisa :)

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  4. Beautiful memorial post to all those who served so we can be free! I love the poem, I don't think the young people know where the poppies, that are distributed by the VFW , came from. Your old postcards are wonderful!Thank you! Linda

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  5. Beautiful post. My parents had me memorize this poem in the sixth grade. Old-fashioned, even at the time, but blessedly so, to memorize poetry.

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  6. Beautiful poem and beautiful cards dear Abby. I love your (Americans) Patriotism.

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