You have to be a pretty strange person to "celebrate" the deaths of large numbers of our military!
No, people....we Commemorate Memorial Day. It's a solemn day, or should be, a remembrance of those who gave it all for our country. Flags should be flown at half-mast, and when you hoist a cold one this weekend, make sure you hoist one for all those who never came home.
There's music and food trucks, and free admission for Veterans this weekend down on the Iowa. I'd normally be there for the whole weekend, but with The Great Colorado Move looming, I'm sorting, cleaning, and photographing stuff to list on eBay. After this round the Radio Room will be pretty empty of "surplus" items, and I'll start in on the sellable things I have in the garage.
I'll be on the Iowa all day Monday, as we'll be on-the-air in commemoration of Memorial Day. I think there's a few guys down there today, so look for NI6BB in frequencies ending in "61", like 14.261, one of our favorite frequencies to sit on.
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I wish I could join you for the commemoration. I will be touring the Missouri on my next trip to Pearl Harbor, but that's a ways off.
ReplyDeleteWish you could be here, too, Rev! You'd really get "The Cook's Tour" of the Iowa.
DeleteThe Mighty Mo is a different environment than where the Iowa is. To me, it's more "assembly line" touring. You wait at the forward brow until a group of 20 or so people form up, and an assigned tour guide or two take you around the ship. After the tour, you're free to explore a bit on your own.
And of course, with the Arizona just a few hundred feet away, it's very somber.
The radio area is off-limits unless you have a radio club member escort you. It's similar on the Iowa, but there's always a "Radio Guy" or two around, and if a visitor requests access to the radio area, *somebody* will come and get us, or escort the visitor to see us.
Remembrance, however observed, is required of civilized Americans. There are a number of them who are not.
ReplyDeleteAnd sadly that number grows each year.....
DeleteThanks for helping out.
ReplyDeleteI consider it an honor every time I walk aboard the Iowa.
ReplyDeleteMemorial Day is not a very happy day for a lot of people. Sad to think of friends who are gone, times that are past. But it's a good think to remember them, even if it's not always comfortable.
ReplyDeleteWe owe it to them to remember them, even though it can bring up unpleasant memories.
DeleteThey were a few from my high-school who never came home, and a couple of more who came home draped in our flag.
Very sad to see such young men give their all.....