Monday, May 29, 2006
memorial day - more thoughts
-events today in Washington, DC.Seablogger recommends Christopher Hitchens' reflection on Memorial Day. Furthermore, Alan Sullivan's own post this morning is thought-provoking on several fronts - his father, Abraham Lincoln, George Bush, the Civil War, Saddam Hussein, to name but a few. Don't miss either.
-3:00 p.m. the national moment of silence in remembrance
Everett Alvarez was the first American p.o.w. in Vietnam. His book, Chained Eagle, details his experiences as a p.o.w. in Vietnam from August 5, 1964 until February 1973. C-Span broadcast his recent appearance at the Library of Congress and what an upbeat, humorous, somewhat wise man he is. May we all accept and learn from our own travails as he has.
The President delivered a rousing and thoughtul commencement address at West Point on Saturday.
DADvocate writes affectingly about his former landlord and WWII veteran, Tex McDonald.
George Washington's granddaughter was married to Robert E. Lee, the eventual leader of the Confederate Army; Lee refused a commission to the Union Army saying he couldn't possibly fight against his beloved State of Virginia; during the Civil War, the US government (the 'North') appropriated Lee's wife's 11,000 acres and home in Arlington because they wanted to bury soldiers there; although Mary Lee died before she made a decision about what to do, her son sued the government for unlawful seizure; the Supreme Court ruled in his favor and awarded him a significant amount of money; he promptly deeded the land back to the US for burying soldiers and others. PBS last evening re-aired the National Geographic's portrait of Arlington National Cemetery and it is being aired around the country today, as well, at various times. If only for the details about the intense training of the amazing guards, it's more than worth watching. Both historically and emotionally engrossing, it is another fascinating and complex piece of our story.
Via Dadvocate, GM's Corner with some marvelous photos and all of Rudyard Kipling's poem, Tommy.
DevraDoWrite's reprise of a wonderful essay about Taps.
Technorati tags: memorial day, freedom, kipling, arlington national cemetery, george washington, robert e. lee, moment of remembrance, everett alvarez, christopher hitchens
Labels: great link(s), history
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