memorial day, kevin took part in three different memorial events involving warm woolen pants and jackets and all that stuff…the first one was at Lincoln’s Tomb, the second one was at Oak Ridge Cemetery, and i went to watch the third one, at Camp Butler.
That one was a memorial for all the fallen Illinois soldiers. Mom, janice and I got there at about 2:15 and the event started at three. we were really early, but that was good because we found a shady spot under a tree to spread our blanket. we hadn’t thought to bring chairs, and there were plenty of empty chairs – all sitting out in the blazing sun. luckily, janice had a blanket in her car. not so fortunately – it was a wool blanket. not the number one choice to put under my poison ivy legs. i tucked my program under my legs, though, which worked out fine.
i can’t recall actually ever going to a memorial day ceremony, and this one was really nice, very moving, and made me think about the day for what it really is, a memorial to people serving in the armed forces, not just a day for picnicking. the first guy who spoke talked about all the cubs scouts, girl scouts, and random little kids who had come out and placed little flags at each and every gravestone at the cemetery – there were TWENTY THOUSAND of them. whew. that was staggering to hear; i had no idea there were that many graves there.
the 114th marched in, looking very dapper, with no sign of how extremely hot they must have been.
this part of the ceremony was the “empty chair” – all the wives, girlfriends and mothers of soldiers who had been killed each came up to the chair and laid a white rose on it. it was such a moving, sad event…there were old women, there was a middle-aged woman with her little daughter, there was a young woman who looked like she might have been 20 years old…kevin, who was very close to the chair, said that a lot of the women were sobbing.
kevin is third from the left, garrick is second from the right.
the municipal band played, and they, too, must have been mighty warm. at least they didn’t have to wear their jackets. we sat right in back of them.
here’s the 114th in back of the empty chair. later, the women who had put the roses on the chair came forward and picked them back up. i do have to say one thing about this moving even, though – they RAN OUT OF ROSES. i thought this was pretty awful – how did the person in charge of the roses NOT GET EXTRA ROSES? they were about four or five short, not a huge amount, but i kept thinking EACH OF THESE WOMEN CERTAINLY DESERVES A ROSE. hopefully next year they will correct this problem.
of course kevin is smiling for the camera! he used to be much more solemn-faced during ceremonies, but now he likes to smile when getting his picture taken. so does dwayne, who is on kevin’s left, and marty, on kevin’s other side, is also kind of smiling…this was garrick’s very first ceremony of any kind, though, which might be the reason for his solemnness.
garrick looks like a real soldier, doesn’t he? that’s because he WAS one. he served in iraq twice, a staff sergeant in the military police.
whoops, i caught kevin with his eyes wide shut…
after the ceremony was over, the 114th marched down the way and played taps and fired their guns. you can see a few of the many, many graves here.
they then marched down another way, and people straggled after them. i’m not quite sure why they had them march all over, hither and yon, but i kept thinking that if they kept marching, people would keep following them. we could have kept it up all day, but luckily they finally came to rest. there was lots of standing around after that so people could get their pictures taken with the unit, of course.
The keynote speaker for the day was Mr. Robert T. Morris, Office of Field Programs, National Cemetery Administration, Washington D.C. his speech was good, and he talked about not only the military people who had lost their lives, but also of the people who had been injured, both visibly and internally. for the first time, this had resonance with me, because garrick suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Garrick is one of the most the most happy, cheerful, sweet, good-natured people i’ve ever met, and it pains me that he suffers from this disorder. i am glad, though, that mr. morris mentioned internal injuries, because they must be just as debilitating as physical ones, and it’s important that they’re acknowledged.
i do my best to try to lift garrick’s spirits by plying him with cookies and chocolate car-bomb cupcakes. i mean, like i said, he’s always very cheerful, but i figure that although the cupcakes probably don’t actually do anything for the PTSD, they certainly can’t hurt.
ok then,
mrs. already a week into june and STILL there’s no june banner yet hughes.