Memorial Day

Day is done
Gone the sun
From the lake
From the hills
From the sky
All is well
Safely rest
God is nigh.



Back in the day, Scout Troop 120 would assemble at the Legion Hall between the downtown area and the riverside. That was where the parade began. Our scoutmaster was in the Marines, and while he respected the fact that the Boy Scouts were not a military organization, it was nonetheless a uniformed one, and would conduct itself accordingly. We learned to march in more-or-less close order, and to carry the colors. From there we marched up the main street, across town, for just over a mile to the cemetery. There we paid tribute to the fallen.

Not everyone growing up in the sixties was against the War in Vietnam. At least not at first. There was the underlying assumption that, if we were involved, and if it was against Communism, the cause was a noble one, and that was that. It is different now. We are loathe to trust leaders who commit too easily, to causes that do not appear to the casual observer as an immediate threat. Whatever the misgivings, something bred in the bone forbids me to treat lightly the work of those who pay the ultimate price, so that I don't have to.

It's the least I can do. God bless America.