Memorial Day 2018

Today is Memorial Day here in the United States - a day to honor our fallen service members, our war dead.

Originally called Decoration Day, this was a day on which flags and flowers were placed on the graves of soldiers who died in the American Civil War; today we remember all of our service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

A few years ago, we shared this photo of a plaque at nearby Fort Riley:

The inscription reads:

The Young Dead Soldiers

The young dead soldiers do not speak. 
Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses: 
who has not heard them? 
They have a silence that speaks for them at night 
and when the clock counts. 
They say: We were young. We have died. 
Remember us. 
They say: We have done what we could 
but until it is finished it is not done. 
They say: We have given our lives but until it is finished 
no one can know what our lives gave. 
They say: Our deaths are not ours: they are yours, 
they will mean what you make them. 
They say: Whether our lives and our deaths were for 
peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say, 
it is you who must say this. 
We leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning. 
We were young, they say. We have died; remember us.

Archibald MacLeish

May God bless the souls of our fallen veterans and comfort their families. We will not forget you!

Mags, Cam, and our bipeds