Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
~Amen~
Every year I post this video. I am very proud to have called the little town of Ringgold, Georgia my home for many years. Every year we drive back down to spend the few minutes it takes to go through town, the main stretch and all the little side roads, and appreciate the flags, and honor the fallen.
May the blood cost of our freedom be increasingly appreciated and honored. And may America always be blessed with towns and people like this, who remember and honor our fallen because they value our freedom and know the cost.
God Bless America.
Hero’s one and all! If we be called upon, may we have the courage to answer that call, that others be free!
When has it ever been defense, not conquest?
I look forward to this beautiful video giving thanks for those who gave all. May we remember them all with love and gratitude today and with the strength of their spirits urging us on to fight for our country here at home. God bless all who gave all today, and all who gave some. Thank you, Menagerie.
Nicely said Menagerie!
May God rest their Souls and May HE give their Families Peace…..amen
My father served his country for 27 years and though he was not called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice, he willingly surrendered his individual freedom to serve his family and the Navy. May God rest his soul, and may he have fair winds and following seas through eternity.
God Bless them all.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s Wartime Prayer
Dear Lord,
Lest I continue
My complacent way
Help me to remember that somewhere,
Somehow out there
A man died for me today.
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?
God Bless America.
And may God Bless the souls that live in eternity for their sacrifice.
I will always remember an aunt whose 3 sons went off to war. The 3rd was not required to go but ‘joined’ his brothers. None returned. She was never the same but she never spoke of it. She had their medals and a local newspaper did a story on her sons and the story in the 60’s. I always held her as the dearest one. She was quiet by nature but you could always sense her heartache and her broken heart. She did have one daughter and had grandchildren but none of her son’s.
My mother, in her 90’s still has my aunt’s newspaper story. I read it from time to time. when visiting. IT REMINDS ME OF TRUE SACRIFICE….my aunt NEVER complained and NEVER said, poor me. IT WAS FOR THE COUNTRY was her words in the 60’s and continued until she died. That is all she would say…SHE SACRIFICED HER SONS for the country….God Bless America. THIS is the AMERICA I love and I FIGHT for today.
And, growing up, I learned then and now, there were many like my aunt that sacrificed their ‘boys’ for the COUNTRY…They are the dear ones, they are the ones that were selfless….
Brave men being sacrificed in insane foreign wars far away…I honor them, but I curse the evil politicians who put them there…
Thank you for telling us about your aunt, and her sons who gave their lives for America. Truly exceptional people, they were. May your story about them be a blessing to all who read it here today.
Last night my husband and I watched the National Memorial Day Concert on PBS. Each year the program has actors dramatically tell stories of those who have fallen in service to this country. I am including a link here to one of the stories…we were both in tears as we watched and listened.
Folks, please do take 8 minutes of your time:
https://m.facebook.com/memorialdayconcert/videos/jean-smart-and-joe-mantegna-tell-the-story-of-the-graham-family/576005790905576/
You do not have to be a FB member to view.
A generation was lost in WWI, only the first of so many endless wars where countless young men never came home, but were buried on foreign soil. This is a poem written by a young woman who said her goodbyes to her soldier…and waited for him to return from The Great War…
Lost Spring
When each new year brings forth new life
In fragrant mists of green;
When mating birds, and youth, and love
Through all the world are seen~~
When poppies splash their hearts’ bright blood
As round your cross they dance,
And Norman apple-blossoms blow,
It must be spring in Framce.
I know it must be spring in France
Because you’re lying there,
For since you left spring’s never come,
And it must be somewhere.
~~Marion Valentine~~
The tales of courage and loss are there for others to tell and remember. God bless eternally the souls of those whose stories they are, and God bless those who have been left to mourn. One day, as He promises, there will be no more tears.
Amen. Thanks for sharing. TODAY we all mourn and grieve; however, we are free!
Thank you for this Betsy. There is so much pain and bitter lost hope in her last two lines.
For since you left spring’s never come
And it must be somewhere.
It broke my heart as well, George. I’ve kept it for years because it reminds me of not only the losses on the field of battle, but also of those who must endure the unbearable missing of people they loved. A very real casuality of war. Blessings to you, sir.
Thank you for this poem, Marion! So many are waiting for reunification with those loved ones taken much too soon.
Blessings this Memorial Day!
I wish somehow she’d know how her grieving poem has touched so many who sorrowfully understand exactly how she felt long after she wrote it…and who has now, I pray, has been reunited with the young man she lost.
Wonderful! Thank you!
Thanks so much, Betsy.
I am sending Marion’s poem on to more folks.
You’re most welcome. It is worth sharing. Be sure to correct my typo🙏
One aunt was a Gold Star mother and a great aunt was a Gold Star Mother. They had at least six boys in wars and thankfully all came home without incident that you could see. Who knows what was left inside their heads.
Faith, truth and courage.
Amen
My town has large flags with deceased veterans photos and they hang from every telephone pole. We thank the living military on this day as well.
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses , row on row
That mark our place ; and in the sky
The Larks , still bravely singing , fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are Dead. Short days ago
We lived , felt dawn , saw sunset glow
Loved, and were loved , and now we lie
In Flanders Field
Take up our quarrel with the foe :
To you from failing hands we throw
THE TORCH –
Be yours , to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep , though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.
( Happy DECORATION DAY , as Grandma called it, I think that name was good ,to remind people what you should do )
Mansions of the Lord……
Amen and amen and amen!
Thank you for the video and article. And thanks for your patriotism. May God bless America
“Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.”
Your statement made these 76 year old eyes moisten up: “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.”
Sincerely – thank you for posting.
As did mine. Not quite as old as you but close. We grew up knowing, honoring and memoralizing those who sacrificed from those who were affected and real to it. THERE is a difference in that generation.
yes there is
Indeed H&HC!
Tears at any age!
Always beautiful and is truly emblematic of real and free America.
I hang on the the belief that the “real and free America” spirit founded by God fearing men and women will not die.
God has a plan. He has told us so.
I agree. God’s got this.
God has a plan for Israel and made an eternal covenant with them but they turned away from Him, rejecting His grace provision and protection in favor of idolatry and carnality. As such their nation on earth was destroyed. He will uphold His Abrahamic & Davidic Covenants in the Millennium after the Tribulation.
I believe that the United States was afforded a magnificent opportunity by our Lord to stand for righteousness and recognize Him as our protector and provider, but evil greedy men (and women) soon rejected God and decided that pursuit of their lusts was more important.
And that evil has worsened and intensified over the last 60 years. As a nation we enjoy no such promise of eternal peace and protection as do the descendants of Abraham. Individual believers are saved by Jesus Christ but our nation is doomed if we remain on the present course.
Amen GB!
That little town where Dolly Parton got married is just up the road from me. They do know how to keep Memorial Day well …
Beautiful remembrance. I really don’t like to start my day crying. What a beautiful town too.
To my mates who gave all down range, Lebanon and Iraq.
You are not forgotten.
Beautiful.
Thank you
All of these dead young men. And for what exactly? Since 1812 has there really been a time the American people or our home been so threatened as to go to war? Not really. But there is a ton of money to be made and power to be gained from sending other’s sons off to fight whatever enemy they have cooked up. Yes I do respect their sacrifices, as many had no choice in their destiny. However, rather than blindly reciting the same “muh freedumb ” line how about we, particularly Southern Christians, begin utilizing the loss of all these future fathers as a way to say no more. No more allowing my son to go to MEPPS, no more picking half-assed fights everywhere with other people’s sons so you can bankroll and consolidate power. No more.
I believe now more than ever that wars are conceived in corporate boardrooms.
And politician bedrooms…
. . . but mostly by mass compliance; by (manufactured) consent of the governed:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/?s=romans+13
https://www.lewrockwell.com/1970/01/murray-n-rothbard/overthrowing-the-state/
http://www.sobran.com/reluctant.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_cascade
“People accept the facts which come to them through existing channels. They like to hear new things in accustomed ways. They have neither the time nor the inclination to search for facts that are not readily available to them.”
― Edward L. Bernays, Crystallizing Public Opinion
53 Admitted False Flag Attacks – Global Research
We did not have much choice in 1941 when Japan attacked us, militarily unprovoked, as part of an Axis of fascist evil that included Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. German submarines had already been killing American merchant mariners in the North Atlantic.
One can argue the corporate angle along with substantive evidence, but nonetheless about 2,400 Americans died at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; there were more attacks being planned against U.S. citizens and holdings, and it demanded a military response.
God bless you soldiers, may you rest in peace. We thank you for guarding our freedom. Thank you every day God loving Americans who do your part to secure freedom.
Thank you for the beautiful video.
My father and all my uncles, with the exception of one who too young, fought in the Army and Navy during WWII.
My father’s younger brother was KIA on Leyte 12-21-1944 and is buried at the American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila.
RIP and Honor.
May they all be at rest in”The Mansions of the Lord”. Honoring my father-in-law at rest in Epinal, France.
Well, I read one negative response here. Has to be at least one, I guess. Pity…can’t let it go for just one day.
For me, I simply remember that thousands upon thousands of men and women in this great nation gave their all for her. I served with some of them. Through my teary eyes, and humble heart, I stand today and salute them…I thank them…I honor them.
We can NEVER honor, respect, memoralize enough those that went and never returned. We are FREE today on their backs and their sacrifices. I will NEVER forget and may I NEVER forget. Today is the day we look back and salute them all!
Lovely video. 😢
God Bless all of these Heroes that sacrificed
I just rewatched the movie “Amazing Grace” last week which highlights the life of the abolitionist William Wilberforce (& allies) and some who influenced him such as John Newton (clergyman & former slave trader), who wrote the song “Amazing Grace”.
Inspiring movie…
My husband takes his bagpipes to the shore of Lake Superior, and at sunrise will play ‘Amazing Grace.’
It is a tribute of thanksgiving for the grace God poured over him with His salvation.
I’ve heard people talk about hearing bagpipes playing ‘Amazing Grace’ at dawn, and am shocked in the vastness of this world to be by a stranger that heard my husband play. As they speak of how their souls were moved by the melody floating out over the water I never say a peep about the musician; it is his holy gift given to the Lord.
Beautiful story… thanks for sharing Raven ~ 🙂
Thank you again Menagerie!
There is no greater love than one who lays down their lives for a friend (country and God)!
Amen!!
Remebering my friends whose names on the ‘The Wall’!
Thank you Menagerie! I’m just a bit south of Ringgold in Rome and have always enjoyed our visits there and through Fort Oglethorpe, or “Fort O”as we call it:) beautifully done every year!
They do our patriotic holidays right. God Bless🇺🇸🙏🏻
On this day last year i had a few hours to myself. I watched this again, wondered who made this and what else was going on in that town. So I looked up the makers and a schedule of events and saw that they were playing taps at 7.
It wasn’t quite 5, easily doable. So I put the big brown dog in the truck and headed down I 75.
Walking the town and watching the people, I could see that at least here there was reverence. Such a small effort, yet one of my most memorable evenings in recent years.
Should there ever be a Treehouse meetup, I suggest it be in Ringgold on Memorial Day.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it. I loved my time in Ringgold, and I miss it so much. You should try to take in a Christmas parade there. Absolutely fun and charming.
My Uncle Billy, my dad’s only brother, served and died in WWII.
My papa was 15 when his big brother died.
William Block from Wausau, Wisconsin is someone I have heard about all my life, a hero I wish I could have gotten to know, and is someone I will one day meet in Paradise with our Heavenly Father.
God’s peace to all who mourn, this and every day.
War Is A Racket, by Major General Smedley Butler, 1935
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/831204.Harry_Patch
Exodus 23:2
“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.”
~ Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials
Good luck in reaching the Boomers and Patriotards who reside here.
I could explain patriotism to you, but I can’t understand it for you.
Yeah, I guess I fail to see how fighting in far off lands for Bankers and Billionaires equals patriotism.
Wish I could be like you and delude myself into thinking these poor dead souls somehow kept us all free.
Yeah, I guess I fail to see why the hell you had to comment. This post was obviously not written for the likes of you, especially calling people patriotards. You don’t agree and don’t like it, you are t required to. You also don’t have to comment in such a jackass way.
From the founding of this country to today, the reasons “these poor dead souls” served are quite varied.
You should get to know some of them. It might help you understand.
People like that will never understand.
You would never have the balls to say that to anyone here face to face. You have no idea how small you are.
God bless all the families of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
RIP 🇺🇸😢💔🌹…thank you all for your service.
The Adagio (slow movement) of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony #6: from a funeral march to transcendence, an incredible journey in just 20 minutes.
I recommend hearing the entire work, whenever you have time:
I’ve been a member of the Fort Custer National Cemetery volunteer flag crew for the last 17 years. Our responsibility is to maintain the 206 flags and poles that line the Avenue of Flags and the assembly area at the end of the avenue. In addition we also incinerate thousands of flags that have been turned in at various places and we also drive the rented golf carts for the annual Memorial ceremony and the Veteran’s day ceremonies giving rides to the assembly area to disabled Vets and elderly vets as well. Yesterday I once again had the honor to have 4 WWII veterans in my cart, all in their late 90’s. It’s such an inspiration to see these hero’s attend the ceremonies even though they can hardly get around but by God they’re going to the ceremony heat, rain, shine, or snow. As would be expected they are fewer every year. Not having had the ceremonies for the last two years because of the Covid scam this years attendance was the largest I’ve ever seen. It’s comforting to know that so many still find it something they wouldn’t miss although I’d like to see more young people in attendance.
Very nice. Our 100yo friend is the MC at his legion’s memorial today. As of last night, nobody had called to volunteer to drive him there. He is alone. He said it’s going to be outdoor and sunny and hot. Wish I didn’t live out of state.
Bless you sherwood.
And, my dad (WWII) was at Custer for basic training.
My Dad was there as well. I guess we’ll never know if they crossed paths. As I indicated it does my heart good to see how many view Memorial Day as something other than a good day to go to a mattress sale.
I was five when my dad went off to war in 1943 and my mother and I went to live with his mom and dad. His brother, who had no family of his own, had enlisted in the Marines December 8, 1941.
My uncle survived Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Iwo. My dad survived Bastogne and The Bulge. They survived, but I remember my dad roaming the house at night, for years, to avoid the nightmares.
Memorial Days in my little town of 800 families always had a parade that ended at the cemetery where our dead, and living, warriors for freedom were honored for their sacrifices. The ceremonies always ended with the small town band playing the National Anthem, a squad of riflemen firing a salute over the graves, and bugler playing Taps.
Two of my male cousins, and myself, enlisted in the Marines, and one in the Air Force when we reached our maturity. I still, at the ripe old age of 83, cannot hear the Anthem, Taps, or Amazing Grace being played, without tears running down my cheeks.
What has become of our Country?
God bless America!
God bless you and your wonderful family!
My father joined the Marines at 17 1/2 (my grandmother always talked about the difficulty of signing the papers to allow him in). He was prevented from going into battles by foot problems from training.
Later, during the Korean War, still suffering the foot problems, he was assigned by the Marines to non-combat duties, but the rest of his squadron went to Korea, where every one of them died on a booby-trapped bridge.
God bless them all!
And yes, what has become of our country?
An insane fanaticism to kill babies, a stolen presidential election, deliberate destruction of our wealth, the imposition of (Chinese) Communist principles, and general immorality among politicians and many others…
NOBODY died wanting to defend such a country!
My stepfather kinda..well..he lied about his age. He was actually 15 when he joined Merchant Marines.
Then he joined Air Force …
Be a lot harder getting away with it nowadays.
No wonder your posts are so thoughtful!
I am the same.
Have been to a few military funerals at Arlington.
Always cry when I hear Bagpipes Amazing Grace …
But something different about it when hearing it those times at Arlington.
Quite moving..to say the least. I really cannot find any words to explain.
A Marine sergeant who landed with the first troops on Iwo Jima and was one of only two to still be with the platoon at the end of the battle is my biggest “why” for what I am doing to get our country back. The word “hero” is overused, but he earned that title many times over.
How can I not fight for the country Sergeant Manuel Martinez sacrificed so much for?
I live about 10 miles South of Ringgold. Volunteers put up about 1,500 flags twice a year… Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The area in front of the Court House is reserved for the flags of the MIAs and the POWs. Driving around on all the roads which have the flags is always a very moving experience. No words can really describe it.
Beautiful video, thanks Menagerie. It reminds me of my own hometown.
We’re blessed to have great people in the ranks of our military.
I can’t help but add a little about the homeschoolers who come on Tuesday to help out. Every year on Saturday community volunteers place flags on every grave in the Ft Custer National Cemetery. Years ago this was the flag crews responsibility to pick them up which was a weeks work. About 14 years ago one of our crew members enlisted a homeschool group to help out. I’ve watched many grow up over the years. Unbelievably the “swarm” of homeschooler’s, starting a 9:00 AM will pick up all 30,000 PLUS flags, then head to the maintenance building where the flag are rolled into bundles of 10 and a rubber band put around them and then place them in the storage containers. We will be finished before 12:30 (3 1/2 hours). The kids are the most well behaved, focused kids you’ll ever find. Truly great American’s in the building process.
Thank you
How patriotism is taught! This will be the generation that helps save America. Blessings to their parents!
God bless 1st Sgt John D Blair from down the road in Calhoun who I had the honor of working with oh so briefly.
And God bless all of the great men who gave the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom and liberty.
Never Forget; Always Remember………
My mother’s sister married a very nice gentleman post WWII. Growing up I called him Uncle Bob. I didn’t know it until recently, Uncle Bob and his 4 brothers all served in active duty during WWII. Yes, 5 brothers volunteered to fight. Some in the Navy, some in the Army and one in the Marines. Uncle Bob was a Seebee. They all came home and lived productive lives.
My cousin (daughter of Uncle Bob) recently self published a book of the letters that Uncle Bob’s mom saved. Each son wrote home to tell Mom and Dad how they were doing thru the duration.
Reading those boys (young men) letters is an emotional roller coaster………….
Beautiful, somber video.
To an uncle I never met, lost in Guadalcanal, and my father who served in the Pacific, WWII also.
Thank you, and God bless those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms!
Thank you Sundance. A very powerful and moving video.
The sacrifices made by so many who gave their lives in service to this great nation is a debt that can never be repaid, and “Thank You” seems like it can and will never be enough.
May they all Rest In Peace. May we never forget their sacrifices.
Thank you to All who gave the ultimate sacrifice. And Thank You again Sundance.
Knew a member of the Greatest Generation..Mike Williams. He was a close friend of my wife’s grandfather. Spent a lot of time around him through the years…family get togethers, holidays etc. Only at his funeral after those many years did I learn that he had flown and survived 27 missions as a tail gunner in a B-17 over Europe. He never said a word about his service…that was the generation that gave us the freedoms we enjoy today. Humble heros. May we rise to the call to secure those freedoms in perpetuity in any way that we can against the enemies of our land both foreign and domestic. May we rebuild a nation worthy of God’s blessings.
Missing the company of a few good men.
“Find the cost of Freedom, buried in the ground…”
Just beautiful
They shall not grow old,
As we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,
And in the morning,
We will remember them.
-from For the Fallen, L Binyon
My daughter and SIL were married in Ringgold, GA. 2001. Still together.
All of North GA is beautiful. We own property in Blairsville. Beautiful, conservative, common sense people in North GA.
So different from the ATL area.
My bride and I were married in a little Baptist Church, just outside of Helen, Ga. some, ah, -takes off boots to aid in the counting- sometime between four and five decades ago.
It is beautiful country.
Absolutely, thank God🙏🏻
I live in Dalton…about 15 miles south of Ringgold. I count myself lucky to have lived in this area for almost 80 years now.