Memorial Day

Today’s Post by Joe Farace

For readers of this blog who don’t live in the USA, Memorial Day is a holiday in the United States remembering all of the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces.

The holiday is observed every year on the last Monday of May and when I was a kid it was known as Decoration Day. The holiday was started after the Civil War to commemorate the memories of Union and Confederate soldiers who died during the war. By the 20th century, Memorial Day was extended to honor all Americans who died in military service. To honor those who died in military service some people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly In national military cemeteries volunteers place an American flag on each grave

On a Personal note: It was a snowy January in 1944 in the Ardennes Forest along the German/Belgium border, a US Army medic who might have looked much like this young man was involved in the “Battle of the Bulge.” During this battle there were more than one million soldiers —500,000 Germans, 600,000 Americans and 55,000 British—involved including my father.

It was just such an Army medic, who pulled my Dad out a mortar crater where he had been wounded and patched him up so he come home after the war to my Mother, sisters and me. This image is an homage to all the brave young men and women who serve and served in our armed forces, including those who made the ultimate sacrifice.