Ralph, Sometime back you posted a very touching tribute to our veterans, I am hoping to prevail upon you to repost it. Thanks and a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend to all, Chris Beckman *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Beckman" <cbeckman_at_dmv.com> To: <PaddleWise_at_paddlewise.net> Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2001 9:15 AM Subject: [Paddlewise] Memorial Day > Ralph, > > > Sometime back you posted a very touching tribute to our veterans, I am hoping > to prevail upon you to repost it. > > > Thanks and a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend to all, Yes, here it is from a year ago: When we were driving the backroads of Spain last week, my wife took delight in the poppies that seemed to be growing everywhere, along the shoulders and in the fields in such abundance that they seemed large red blankets laid down for a giant's picnic. As I took one eye off the winding roads to enjoy "her" poppies, my mind wandered off to the words of the poem "In Flanders Fields the poppies grow..." written in rememberance of the fallen in the Great War and, by extension, for all others ever since. Memorial Day weekend is the traditional kick off for summer in the US. But it is also is meant to be a somber day of recall of sacrifice and recognition that freedom doesn't come free of cost. I never served in the military...just one of those things. But growing up in a wartime Manhattan, the window of my bedroom framed a banner embroidered with 4 stars for my brothers Juan, Antonio, Ignacio and Jose off on farflung ships and battlefields of World War II. All of them came back alive to their kid brother, sisters and relieved parents. A decade ago, as a parent, I sweated out my own son's service in Desert Storm in the advance command post of General Barry McCaffery's 24th Division (now the object of a contraversial article in a recent New Yorker magazine). Jason returned to us safe ... I personally shook General McCaffery's hand in thanks when we met up with him at the end of the celebratory parade in lower Manhattan. Jason remains a career soldier, a sargeant in the US Army. Something I take great pride in. I mention names but I know many of you have ones you could fill in if I were to have left them out. Some of those you would name did not come back. Whereever your kayak or canoe takes you this weekend, bring along some flowers. Pick them from a field or lawn or buy them at a market. At some point as you paddle stop for a moment. Cast them on the waters and, if you are with other paddlers, hold hands in silence. In that moment, remember the significance of Memorial Day which is so easy to forget in the whirl of a holiday weekend. Lest we forget. ralph diaz *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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