Thank you, Veterans!
Posted by Cheryl Gaer-Barlow (+485) 13 years ago
If no one has said this yet, this Memorial Day weekend; I want to say thank you to all the Veterans! All you went through is not forgotten.
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Posted by Richard Bonine, Jr (+15490) 13 years ago
Amen!


[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr (5/31/2010)]
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Posted by Wendy Wilson (+6171) 13 years ago
I've got my flag out. Thank you to all!
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Posted by Leif Hope (+100) 13 years ago
As a Veteran (Desert Storm), thank you. Thank you to all those that served, currently serve and will serve.

My wife and I are the proud parents of a beautiful daughter currently at Annapolis (under the Marine Corps option). She follows in the footsteps of her Great Grandfather, Grandfather, Father and Mother.

Her brothers have opted for a different path, but we are just as proud of them.

Thank you to the Veterans, active and their families. Especially to the families of the fallen. You are not forgotten.
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Posted by Jeff Denton (+757) 13 years ago
You're welcome. To me it was no big deal, all I did was cruise around the world practicing "Big Stick Diplomacy" at the height of the Cold War. We tried to start a war in Libya one day but it only resulted in two downed Migs. The whole thing was mostly fun, and I learned a lot and met good people. No biggie.
I would like to thank the veterans who found themselves a little more involved in world history than I did. Some didn't have it so easy, some gave their lives for us and others came back scarred, disfigured, paralyzed, and traumatized.
My contribution was NOTHING compared to that.
To me, this day is for remembering those who are forever gone.
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Posted by Vicky Strom (+132) 13 years ago
Ditto! Thank you to all Veterans!

[This message has been edited by Vicky Strom (5/31/2010)]
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Posted by polar bear (+515) 13 years ago
I just overheard a couple of women arguing in Walmart that Veteran's Day and Memorial Day are interchangeable!
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Posted by polar bear (+515) 13 years ago
I remember when it was called Decoration Day and the purpose was decorating family members' graves.
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Posted by Leif Hope (+100) 13 years ago
I remember when it was called Decoration Day and the purpose was decorating family members' graves.


Wow, how old are you? You must be really old to remember that.
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Posted by polar bear (+515) 13 years ago
Yeah, I am quite old. One of my students asked me on my birthday last year (53rd birthday) if I ever dreamed I would live so long
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Posted by polar bear (+515) 13 years ago
And Veteran's Day was Armistice Day. Ah, the 70's when everything had to be renamed.
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Posted by Leif Hope (+100) 13 years ago
You are not that old at all. I wasn't aware that Memorial Day was renamed such in the 70s. It was in the early 70s when the Feds started changing the dates around for holidays so workers could have 3-day weekends. Perhaps that is what is confusing you.

I understood that Decoration Day evolved into being called Memorial Day around 1870 or so, that is what confused me when you said you recalled the holiday as Decoration Day.
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Posted by polar bear (+515) 13 years ago
Check out some google sites. It gradually changed but many, many people called it Decoration Day into the 90's. All the people over 70 in my family still call it Decoration Day.
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Posted by polar bear (+515) 13 years ago
Might have been regional too. I lived in Miles City until 1976.
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Posted by Leif Hope (+100) 13 years ago
All the people over 70 in my family still call it Decoration Day.


That is very intersting. All the people over 70 in my family have always called it Memorial Day.

It may indeed be regional. Miles City is fairly isolated.
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Posted by Wendy Wilson (+6171) 13 years ago
I grew up in Miles City and never heard it called Decoration Day. My parents always called it Memorial Day.
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Posted by Gunnar Emilsson (+18477) 13 years ago
Decoration Day is a southern saying. I suspect polar bear's family comes from the south. I bet they say "warsh", too.
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Posted by Leif Hope (+100) 13 years ago
Decoration Day is a southern saying.


I'm from the South, and I've never heard anyone in the several areas of the South where I've lived refer to Memorial Day as anything other than Memorial Day.

I believe my Great Grandparents and probably Grandparents observed Confederate Memorial Day as they were from Georgia. I'm not sure if it is still a State Holiday (meaning State worker bees get the day off) but at one time Confederate Memorial Day was on the list of official State Holidays.

My wife's family are the ones from Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota, and she says she always heard it refered to as Memorial Day.
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