Memorial Day. A day to remember those that have fallen. Lise and I went over to Fort Custer National Cemetery to pay our respects to those that have served. As did many others.
There is a directory that can get you to the section where an individual is buried but then you have to wander the section to find the grave. On several occasions I heard a kid yelling, “I found him, he’s over here.” Once it was a man in I’m guessing in his thirties that yelled, “Over here Mama, he’s over here.” Then he started talking to grave saying, “Uncle Willie, how are you doing.” Sounds bad but it really was done respectfully.
When you think military you think uniform. As in everyone and everything the same. It comes through in the cemetery. Regardless of rank or honor everyone has the same size stone marker. In the older part of the cemetery there are upright stones but in the newer part the stones are laid flat. All are the same size with a name, birth and death date, branch of service, war fought in, a few tribute words and a religious affiliation symbol. All in the same uniform size stone. Lots of crosses, a Methodist symbol, Unitarian symbol, Star of David, various Eastern Orthodox crosses, a teepee symbol for Native Americans, and an Agnostic symbol. The one that really caught my eye was the Islamic star and crescent on the stone of a WWII veteran. Not something I ever would have expected. Most of the graves are for those that served and died later. There was one grave for an Iraq causality in his early twenties. The tribute was simply, Father, Son, Friend.
The same size stone as a Private.
Anyway, many thanks to those of you that have served.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 