Antioch, Illinois, to Honor War of 1812 Veteran

From the May 29, 2021, Daily Herald (Chicago Suburbs) Antioch to dedicate monument for War of 1812 soldier."

A monument for Antioch's oldest-known soldier, Captain Leverett  Barnes, who served in the War of 1812, will be dedicated at 10:30 a.m., Monday, May 31, at Hillside Cemetery, Route 173 and Hillside Avenue.

The dedication is part of a Memorial Day service sponsored by Antioch  American Legion Post  748, Sequoit  VFW Post 4551 and the Lakes Region  Historical Society.

A reception will follow at the VFW Hall, 75 North Avenue.  In case of bad weather, the entire  event will be held in the hall.

I had no idea we had a War of 1812 veteran buried near us.

--Brock-Perry

President Trump Honors the Fallen Twice on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery and Fort McHenry

From the May 25, 2020, KGNS TV  Laredo, Tx, "Trump honors war dead  in events colored by pandemic's threat" by Darlene Superville.

President Donald Trump honored America's war dead Monday in back-to-back Memorial Day appearances marred by  an epic struggle off the battlefield   against the coronavirus.

The U.S. death toll to the virus is now approaching 100,000 (and has now surpassed it).

Trump first went to Arlington National Cemetery.  Traditionally on Memorial Day, presidents lay a wreath and speak there, but this year it was different.

Many attendees arrived wearing masks but removed them for the outdoor ceremony in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Trump, maskless as always in public, gave no remarks.  He approached a wreath already in place, stood in reflection, saluted it then touched it.

He then traveled to Fort McHenry in Baltimore where he declared:  "Together we will vanquish the virus and America will rise from this crisis to new and even greater heights.  No obstacle, no challenge and no threat is a match for the sheer determination of the American people."

Saluting All U.S. Military Who Have Made the Ultimate Sacrifice.

Remembering the Fallen, Memorial Day 2019-- Part 2: A Great War Memory

Continued from today's Cooter's History Thing blog.

"In fact, Dier has exactly one memory of Jerry Corp, but it's a good one.

" 'Someone on the perimeter called in for a routine fire mission asking for illumination, ' Dier plans to say in his speech.  'I dropped a round down the the 81-millimeter mortar tube.  The shot went out, and we waited for the familiar pop and the subsequent intense light that the round would provide as it drifted slowly back to the ground for several hundred feet in the air.

"The descending illumination revealed a nearby hillside covered in jungle.  Jerry and I laughed as the flare drifted toward the hillside, watching a multitude of chirping birds who mistook the flare for sunrise.  The noise from the birds stopped suddenly -- as if a switch had been flipped -- when the flare burned out.' "

Continued on my Down Da Road blog.

50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War

The 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War will be spread out over a number of years because many Americans served over a long period of time.

The first Vietnam War commemoration event was held at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Memorial Day, May 28, 2012, and will conclude on Veterans Day, November 11, 2025.

Memorial Day Also Honors Our War of 1812 Veterans

And, Memorial Day is also for our War of 1812 veterans.

Actually, this whole blog is my way of honoring the dead of that long-ago war.

Continuing Memorial Day 2017-- Part 6: Started After the Civil War

Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, was conceived after the Civil War as a way to honor the Union's war dead, with Southern states setting aside separate days to honor Confederate soldiers.

By the early 20th century, the holiday had evolved to honor all military members who died in the service of their country.

I honor the living veterans as well as those still serving on Memorial Day.

Continuing Memorial Day 2017-- Part 5: It's Somber

Douglas and Rene Licklighter, Iraq veterans at the cemetery with their 10- and 12-year-old sons said they believe most people understand what the holiday is about.  But, they too cringe when they hear "Happy Memorial Day."

"It's not happy, said Rene, 37, who retired from the Army National Guard.  "It's somber."

Continuing Memorial Day 2017-- Part 4: Go Silent

Allison Jaslow's group, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, is trying to raise awareness with its #GoSilent campaign, which encourages Americans to pause for a moment of silence at 3 p.m. Monday to remember the nation's war dead.Plenty of Americans do observe Memorial Day.

At Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Annville, Pennsylvania, fields of newly erected small American flags flap in the breeze.  By the end of the long weekend, thousands of people will have come to the cemetery to pay their respects.  This is where Allison Jaslow was.

This is true at the majority of all national cemeteries as well as other ones.

Continuing Memorial Day 2017-- Part 3: A Growing Civilian-Military Disconnect

Veterans groups say a growing military-civilian disconnect contributes to a feeling that Memorial Day has been overshadowed.  More than 12 percent of the U.S. population served in the armed forces during World War II.  That number is down to less than one-half of a percent today.

Said Brian Duffy, commander-in-chief of the veterans of Foreign Wars, "It hurts."  For combat veterans and Gold Star families especially, "it hurts that, as a society, we don't truly understand and appreciate what the true meaning of Memorial Day is."

A Gold Star Family is one which has lost an immediate member in action.

Continuing Memorial Day 2017-- Part 3: Not Just Beaches and Barbecues

While millions of Americans celebrate the long memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start of summer -- think beaches and backyard barbecues (in my case, a trip to Indy 500 the last six years) -- some veterans and loved ones of fallen military members say they wish the holiday that honors more than one million people who died serving their country would command more respect.

Or at least awareness.

"It's a fun holiday for people:  'Let's party.'  It's an extra day off from work," said Carol Resh, 61, whose son, Army Captain Mark Resh, was killed in Iraq a decade ago.  "It's not that they're doing it out of malice.  It just hasn't affected them."

Personally, I wish more people would make it out to where ceremonies are held in their towns.  In Fox Lake, Illinois, we'll usually have a 100-150 turn out for it.  Not a bad crowd, but it should be a lot larger.

Continuing Memorial Day 2017: On Memorial Day, Pleas That True Meaning Be Remembered-- Part 1

From the May 29, 2017, Chicago Tribune by Michael Rubinkam.

Actually, saying Happy Memorial Day" to a veteran is probably not the best thing to say to them.  Something more along a "Thank you for your service" is in order.

Allison Jaslow of Annville, Pa., has heard that often from well-wishers.  The former Army captain and Iraq War veteran tells them she considered this a work weekend.  She will be at Arlington National Cemetery to take part in the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

She'll then visit Section 60, which is the final resting place of many service members who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Culturally, we've kind of lost sight of what the day's supposed to mean," she said.

Brock-Perry

Memorial Day 2017: Norman Kirby Hatch

This day to thank our veterans, I will post in every one of my blogs about them.  I will do World War I and World War II veterans.

Norman Kirby Hatch served in the Merchant Marine during World War I.

He was my grandfather.

Fort McHenry Provides Glimpse of the Original Memorial Day

From the May 27, 2013, ABC News WMAR.

On May 27th, there was a historic 1880 observance at the original Memorial Day at Baltimore's famous War of 1812 Fort McHenry, featuring a speech by  Oliver Wendell Holmes which was given that day.

Decoration Day was officially proclaimed May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commandant of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Civil War Union veteran organization.  It was to be observed May 30th of that year.

Late May was chosen because the Civil War ended that month (it hadn't ended with Lee's surrender April 9th) and flowers were plentiful at the time to decorate the graves.  In 1868, some 200 northern towns celebrated the day with parades to local cemeteries and putting flowers on the graves.  That number rose to 350 towns the next year and by the 1880s was celebrated in most northern cities.

In 1882, the name was changed to Memorial Day as communities went beyond laying flowers on the graves.

A Well-Deserved Observance.  --Brock-Perry