Memorial Day -- Florida Neapolitan Mastiff Chat

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Date Posted: Sunday, May 25, 06:29:59am
Author: Nancy
Subject:

Memorial Day

Memorial Day in America, we honor the thousands of young men and women buried who put themselves in harm's way so that others might live in freedom.

Memorial Day weekend, the first days of summer. And soon, the screen doors will slam; parks are going to sound with the crack of the baseball bat; children's voices will rise in the summer breeze pungent with the scent of barbecue smoke. And the rites of summer are marked by American tradition. As morning comes to Indianapolis, the smells of coffee and gasoline will mingle in the heat rising off that sun-baked raceway. And further west, there's going to be another race, as the blast of a ship's whistle sends the riverboats Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer steaming down the Mississippi off the docks of St. Louis.

Memorial Day weekend -- by the time today's ceremony concludes, the first rays of sunlight will streak across the Potomac, flashing first atop the monument to the founder of our Republic, then reaching down to touch the silent rows of white markers on the green Virginia hillside that is Arlington Cemetery. And soon the gathering light will reveal a lone figure, a man in uniform, standing guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a round-the-clock vigil unbroken in more than 50 years. Another moment and the dawn will flood the park that lays beneath the gaze of Lincoln, embracing the candles that flicker each night along the walls of the Vietnam Memorial. And soon the plaintive sound of taps will rise in the wind in cities and hamlets all across America, heard by veterans of four wars as they gather to salute the fallen. In town after town, the ritual at sunrise will be the same, as first the flag is raised, then slowly lowered to half-mast.

As we gather on Memorial Day weekend. And as the Sun rises and the summer begins, the images are of countries that are prosperous and secure, countries confident of their place in the world and aware of the responsibility that comes with that place. Soon that lone soldier at Arlington will resume his paces, 21 steps in each direction, the changing of the guard precisely on the half hour. And at Gettysburg, the schoolchildren will scatter flowers on other unknown graves, blue and gray, side-by-side, Americans.

On Memorial Day, we give thanks for the blessings of freedom and peace and for the generations of Americans who have won them for us. We also pray for the same strength and moral reserve demonstrated by these veterans, as well as for the true and lasting peace found in a world where liberty and justice prevail.

And with that prayer, I ask that you join in your own silent prayers to commemorate the sacrifice of all men and women who have given their lives for freedom.

George Bush Sr.

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