Preface

I’d like to thank the contributors and followers of Blawg Review for the honor of allowing me to lead this year’s Memorial Day tribute.

Memorial Day is a day that is set aside each year to honor those men and women who have lost their lives in the Service of the United States of America.

To honor these men and women is to honor not only the United States of America, but to honor the freedom for which the United States of America stands.

Above all, Memorial Day is a day is to remember those brave souls whose willing self sacrifice has given us all a chance to live free in the greatest nation on earth. God bless those men and women who have died in the service of the United States of America.

This year, 2007, our nation is at war both in Afghanistan, and in Iraq. There are strong opinions both for and against the war in Iraq. This Memorial Day, I ask that you set aside your political views, and honor those brave soldiers, who have given their lives in the service of this great nation.

Some may think of Memorial Day as just another 3 day holiday weekend. This is not the case. Many men and women have given their lives so that this nation that we love can be free.

This years Memorial Day Tribute on Blawg Review will continue, and be updated through the traditional Memorial Day which actually is on May 30 of each year. In this way I will try to bring to you as much information as possible.

Norman Gregory Fernandez, Memorial Day, 2007.

Memorial Day History

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation‘s service. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

Battle Deaths

Many men and women have died defending this nation on the field of battle or “on duty” under the colors of our Flag. Here is a partial list of casualties of war through the years to illustrate the significance of the sacrifice of many for our country. These statistics are humbling in the face of the significance of their sacrifice. Over one million men and women have died in the service of the United States of America.

CNN provides us a look at the men and women who have given their lives in Iraq. Poignant as it may be, it is men and women such as these that we honor on Memorial Day. Please take the time to look at each person and remember their sacrifice for our nation.

We also pay tribute to those brave souls who have died in the service of their nation in Operation Enduring Freedom; the war Afghanistan.

KADDISH LIKE PRAYER FOR MEMORIAL DAY
“You who make harmony in the ultimate reaches of the universe, teach us to make harmony within ourselves, among ourselves — and peace for all the children of Abraham and all who dwell upon this planet. (Cong: Ah-mein, ahmin, ay-men.)”—Rabbi Arthur Waskow of Philadelphia’s Shalom Cener.

TAPS: The bugle call played in honor of our nations fallen. Of all the military bugle calls, none is so easily recognized or more apt to render emotion than the call Taps. The melody is both eloquent and haunting and the history of its origin is interesting and somewhat clouded in controversy. In the British Army, a similar call known as Last Post has been sounded over soldiers’ graves since 1885, but the use of Taps is unique with the United States military, since the call is sounded at funerals, wreath-laying and memorial services. This is what a Taps and a Military Funeral Sounds like; turn up your speakers. While you are listening you can scroll down and read a tribute to those have fought, and who are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Through the generations, the courageous and selfless patriots of our Armed Forces have secured our liberty and borne its great and precious cost. When it has mattered most, patriots from every corner of our Nation have taken up arms to uphold the ideals that make our country a beacon of hope and freedom for the entire world. By answering the call of duty with valor and unrelenting determination, they have set a standard of courage and idealism that inspires us all. Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 2007
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America. (Sorry George you got the date wrong; Memorial Day is May 30, 2007. We observe Memorial Day on May 28, 2007.)

A Short and Poignant Video on the True Meaning of Memorial Day

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Rolling Thunder roars into Washington for the 20th time. No Memorial Day weekend in the capital is complete without the ritualistic rumble of motorcycles and bikers of Rolling Thunder. For 20 years now, the nonprofit group has led a “Ride for Freedom” along the National Mall, a full-throttle demonstration in support of soldiers held captive or missing in action. Veterans at the celebration were mostly from the Vietnam War, with a few elderly Korean War veterans on hand along with some younger veterans representing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The death of a soldier is an event that rarely goes without notice…and that is as it should be. Nonetheless, it is also quite troubling…and though we may not take the time to fully understand our reaction…in some primal way, it is known without analysis or discussion that the loss of a soldier requires a debt of gratitude since the life of each soldier is given in the service of the country we embrace. This unspoken, though well understood, sense of debt exists regardless of how one views the conflict that facilitates the loss of a soldier

Attorney Dan Nunley discusses Putting the Memory Back in Memorial Day on his Oklahoma Family Law Blog. He asks How many of us have specific plans to actively honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation, and to remember our ancestors, our family members and loved ones who have passed on?

At the American Military Cemetery Henri-Chapelle in Belgium, near the little villages Homburg and Henri-Chapelle, covering fifty-seven acres, rest 7,992 American military Dead. Most of these men gave their lives during the Battle of the Bulge, the Hürtgen-Forest and the advance of the American Armed Forces into Germany during World War II. Their headstones are arranged in gentle arcs sweeping across a broad green lawn which slopes gently downhill.

My Memorial Day thoughts by 21 year Naval Aviator Jeff Huber;

PILE the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo,
Shovel them under and let me work–
I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?

I am the grass.
Let me work.

Grass — Carl Sandburg

When War Was Heroic, Two Memorial Day Addresses by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., brought to us by the Law Librarian Blog.

To begin to understand the full measure of the sacrifice we are here to honor, we must pause to appreciate our own blessings. Just for a moment, stop your mind from racing and soak in this moment in time. Breath in the fresh country air, feel the gentle breeze on your face, look at the green trees, think about the people around you, the relationships you cherish, all the things that make life so dear. Those we honor today will never enjoy any of these blessings again. Lt. Colonel Kurt Wheeler, United States Marine Corps, Retired -Memorial Day Address – New Woodstock, NY, 28 May 2007.

Peter Collier writes: “Memorial Day ain’t what it used to be. Once we knew who and what to honor on Memorial Day: Those who had given all their tomorrows, as was said of the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy, for our todays. But in a world saturated with selfhood, where every death is by definition a death in vain, the notion of sacrifice today provokes puzzlement more often than admiration. We support the troops, of course, but we also believe that war, being hell, can easily touch them with an evil no cause for engagement can wash away. And in any case we are more comfortable supporting them as victims than as warriors.”

Bruce MacEwen has posted a Memorial Day picture on his “Adam Smith, Esq.: An inquiry into the economics of law firms blog that says it all.

A personal Memorial Day story about a Missing in Action bracelet can be found at the WonL: Bar Edition Blog.

From the Wayword Word Press, we learn about how Staff Sgt. Kyu Hyuk Chay enlisted in the U. S. Army, only a few credits short of finishing law school, and that he was killed in action in Afghanistan after serving a tour in Iraq.

Stephanie West Allen has posted several Memorial Day video links and a link to an audio rendition of taps on her idealawg this Memorial Day.

Professor James Edward Maule writes in his MauledAgain blog; “The other day as I was reading an article about the Ardennes Offensive, or as it is also known, the Battle of the Bulge, my attention turned to several facts to which I had not previously given much notice. In a period of slightly more than one month, U.S. military forces alone suffered more than eighty thousand casualties. On reflection, that’s not terribly surprising, considering the scale and suddenness of the German attack. What did surprise me was the shortage of replacements, a lack of sufficient personnel to replace those who had been killed, wounded, captured or who had gone missing.” This is a good read that puts Memorial Day 2007 into prospective.

Seth at Quizlaw tells us that; Section 6103 of Title V of the United States Code reads, in relevant part:
(a) The following are legal public holidays: … Memorial Day, the last Monday in May. This is the statutory authority for traditional Memorial Day being on May 30 rather than May 28.

Here is a video tribute to those brave souls who died for their country during and after the D-Day invasion in World War II, and are buried in the American National Cemetery in Normandy. Each marker represents a man who gave is life so that we may be free. This is the true face of Memorial Day. Turn up your sound so you can hear the background music which is called “Hymn for the Fallen.

Susan Cartier Liebel has posted a moving Memorial Day video on her Build A Solo Practice, LLC blog, which was created by 15 year old Lizzy Palmer. Susan states; “Regardless your view on the Iraq war, those serving our country deserve five minutes of our time and our respect.“

An article on the VDare Blog states that the United States of America has 164 national cemeteries, and 24 of them are outside of U.S. territory. At all 164 of them, ceremonies are scheduled on Memorial Day. Probably the quietest such ceremony will be that of the U.S. National Cemetery in Mexico City, a one-acre plot unknown to most Americans. It’s actually the oldest national cemetery outside U.S. territory. The article cites an article in The Arizona Republic which states that “Unlike other U.S.-run war cemeteries in Europe and the Philippines, it’s the only place where the buried Americans are considered villains.” Maybe it is time to close down this paticular U.S. National Cemetery and bring our troops home.

To close this Memorial Day 2007 tribute to those fallen hero’s who have died in the service of the United States of America, I would like to post a solemn tribute by Professor Stephen Bainbridge, a Law Professor at UCLA. He offers a Memoriam on his http://www.professorbainbridge.com blog, to his grandfather. Irwin Gottschall, of the 17th Cavalry, complete with a picture of his Grandfather. God be with Irwin Gottschall.

God bless those who have given their lives in the service of our Nation, and may God Bless The United States of America.

California Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez