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GoHawk Profile
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Memorial Day Weekend


I certainly hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend as we open up the summer season. However, I also hope everyone remembers that Memorial Day is far more than just a three day weekend. Memorial Day has always been special to me. In fact one of the few positive memories I have of my father were the trips we made together to the Florence American Cemetery just south of Firenze (Florence), Italy. It is the final resting place for over 4,000 American men and women. Most of whom were part of the American Fifth Army who died in the northern Italian campaign following the liberation of jRome. We made the trips primarily because my father's younger brother who was killed in action in 1944 at the age of 19 is buried there. And my mother always said she believed the reason my father never went home to the US was because he did not want to leave his baby brother alone. I always felt he never left because of my mother, combined with the fact that my father always brought his own marching band to his parade. But anyway, every year of so we would make the trip from Trieste to Firenze. And while we were there in this incredibly beautiful spot, I would look over the graves of all those young Americans who were now spending their eternity thousands of miles away from their homes, and it would sadden me even as a pre-teen and teenager. But thankfully they are resting there in a truly beautiful, meticulously manicured garden setting in the midst of the Tuscan hills. And thankfully they are remembered and honored in an appropriate manner. on special holidays (Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, and the 4th of July) each grave site is adorned with a small American flag and a small Italian flag. Those flags are the effort of a group of local Italian Boy Scouts and a group of American Boy Scouts who are the dependents of American military personnel stationed in Italy. And on each Memorial Day a Memorial service is conducted jointly by American and Italian Military personnel. So I can take some comfort in the fact that their memory is honored by both the country of their birth, and the country entrusted with being caretakers of their remains.



Last edited by GoHawk, 5/27/2017, 2:44 am


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Long live the Free Territory of Trieste (1947 - 1954)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cb6X97qXOdE
5/27/2017, 1:54 am Link to this post PM GoHawk Blog
 
John1959 Profile
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Re: Memorial Day Weekend


A nice story, GoHawk. Thanks for sharing it.

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“I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.” - NRA president Karl T. Frederick, 1938
5/27/2017, 2:22 am Link to this post PM John1959 Blog
 
Noserose Profile
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Re: Memorial Day Weekend


Beautiful and elegant Hawk. Thank you.

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"libido sciendi"..... the passion to know.
5/27/2017, 12:04 pm Link to this post PM Noserose
 
Rigby5 Profile
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Re: Memorial Day Weekend


Lets hope past memorials will make future ones unnecessary.
5/27/2017, 3:05 pm Link to this post PM Rigby5
 
katie5445 Profile
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Re: Memorial Day Weekend


If you haven't done it put it on your bucket list of travel, driving the Western Front and down Normandy. Especially through France is small graveyards, where battles took place in the countryside, over a very small bit of a meadow. What was amazing was to see how well they care for those who died. It is also an emotional journey that does stamp your memory to what the day means.
5/27/2017, 4:32 pm Link to this post PM katie5445 Blog
 
GoHawk Profile
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Re: Memorial Day Weekend


Katie is correct. There are approximately 135,000 World War I and II American service members buried across Europe. The large American cemeteries stretch from England to Tunisia in North Africa. But almost everywhere, particularly in France you find smal grave sites that are the burial sights for only a handful of American or other allied soldiers. And those graves are generally lovingly cared for by generations of the same French families. No, every tIme someone belittles the French, I will come to the defense of those crazy French. No, their wines and their cooking may be overrated, but I will never speak evil of them as a people.
 

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Long live the Free Territory of Trieste (1947 - 1954)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cb6X97qXOdE
5/27/2017, 6:09 pm Link to this post PM GoHawk Blog
 
katie5445 Profile
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Re: Memorial Day Weekend


I don't belittle the French either, I have been there multi times and treated very well, I think they get far to much stick, most of the insults aren't even true. My favorite wines are still French and food, if you go to Lyon or south it's hard to beat. I have a hard time finding a good Parisian restaurant though, they are rare to find in and around central Paris, unless you wander in a local neighborhood, to some hole in the wall that has excellent food.
5/27/2017, 6:43 pm Link to this post PM katie5445 Blog
 


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