Memorial Day Compendium

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Watching her father as Taps played- 2016 Memorial Day Etna, PA

A Day of Remembrance- Originally blogged May 31, 2010   Reblogged in 2016

Screen Shot 2017-05-28 at 9.46.08 PMMuskingum County   World War II/Korean War Memorial     Zanesville, Ohio

 

Family members plant flowers, trim grass, pull a few weeds, decorate graves of loved ones with wreaths.

One time Mary and I scrubbed lichen off the granite with our toothbrushes.  I saw a watering can hang from a spigot, a metal pipe in the ground.

Boy Scouts place American flags by white marble veterans’ graves.

I remember when Bill played taps and as the clear notes sounded, the wind kicked up, blew swirls of dust and leaves, the sky got dark. And we all felt  a shivering chill.

Each helmet bears a soldier’s name.

Memorial Day 2013 Guest Blog by son Mark Memorial Day 2013 Guest Blog by son Mark

 

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Photo by Mary upstate NY

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Photo by Mary from upstate NY

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Neighbor’s Memorial Flags for Each War

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Poppy

from Memorial Day 2014

Twenty four notes. Taps. 

The Origin of Taps, The Bugler’s Cry  by  “Jari Villanueva, a former ceremonial bugler at Arlington National Cemetery”

from Memorial Day post 2015   Poppies  for Disabled Veterans Assistance Programsimg_6663

 

 

May they all rest in peace and may we never rest until we make peace last.
Thanks for this, Ruth. Too many helmets!
Love, L

Here is a link to Lois’ obituary 2013

 

Rescue Dog George Watches the Parade

Meet George.

He was abandoned last week.  Now he’s sitting up in  a doggie stroller with a squeaky toy and LOTS of attention from his new owners.  One lucky dog!

He was watching the Etna Memorial Day Parade on Monday. I included some parade highlights so you can see what George saw.

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IMG_9977He smiled.

 

 

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And here is George with his favorite squeaky toy.  He is very happy dog.

 

 

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Nothing like a marching band to get the parade going!  Anchors Aweigh they played.

Vintage vehicles.

 

Some of the Veterans

 

 

Horses

 

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Twirlers

Firefighters from surrounding communities

 

I am created a Flickr album of the Etna Memorial Parade if you want to see if you are in one of the images.    https://www.flickr.com/gp/ruth_e/6z3yA8

 

Etna Memorial Day Ceremony 2016

I was invited to attend the Etna Memorial Day Ceremony at 7:30 AM today.

Mary Ellen’s mother’s home is on High Street in Etna next to this hillside cemetery.  Her grandmother hostessed the party decades before.  Our hostess today was Ruth Gubanic. She continues the tradition in memory of her brothers. She had three brothers who served: two in WWII and one in the Korean War. She honors all three on Memorial Day. Their names are Will, Eddie and Rayme.

All of the Veterans’ names will be added after the initial post because I don’t want to mess up spelling or misidentifying anyone…but I also know they are eager to see some of the photographs from today.  I have created a separate Etna Memorial Day Parade album on Flickr and as soon as it is edited a bit, I will post that link as well.

It was an honor and a privilege to document the ceremony today.

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You can see our gracious hostess Ruth in the front row.

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The Grand Marshall of the Parade -Jim Oehling

During the ceremony there was a “flyover”- of honking geese

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IMG_0440This gentleman is Rick Stefanick, and he is going to help me identify all the other participants with their correct names.  Thank you, Rick.

 

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Jim Brokenbek (l) from Post 106 and Rick Stefanick.

Friends for more than forty years, ready to march in the parade.

IMG_0514Richard Hudak is the Firing Squad Master

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Mary Ellen and her mother Ruth

For a few more photos, here is a link to the Flickr Album

https://www.flickr.com/gp/ruth_e/V7Uj2A