MEMORIAL DAY

- Theodosia Pickering Garrison

A handful of old men walking down the village street
In worn, brushed uniforms, their gray heads high;
A faded flag above them, one drum to lift their feet-
Look again, O heart of mine, and see what passes by!

There's a vast crowd swaying, there's a wild band playing,
The streets are full of marching men, or tramping cavalry.
Alive and young and straight again, they ride to greet a mate again-
The gallant souls, the great souls that live eternally!

A handful of old men walking down the highways?
Nay, we look on heroes that march among their peers,
The great, glad Companions have swung from heaven's byways
And come to join their own again across the dusty years.

There are strong hands meeting, there are staunch hearts greeting-
A crying of remembered names, of deeds that shall not die.
A handful of old men?-Nay, my heart, look well again;
The spirit of America today is marching by!

Memory Keepers

I read a book in grade school, called The Giver by Lois Lowry. Essentially, in the book, its of a different kind of society where people live without emotion, without individuality. There's one person that's selected to be the Keeper of all the Memories, all the stories of the people before they become devoid of emotion. He is the only one to experience these feelings and memories so that society will continue its peaceful life. Its so that no one else feels pain, sorrow, temptation, there are no wars...
I bring this up because sometimes, that's how I think of our job. There are some really great and caring people out there that care about our troops. There are some wonderful volunteers and troop supporters. And there are also the ones that don't pay attention at all to the news, to what is going on overseas; the ones that think that since Osama is dead its all over. Whichever category they are in, there are still just a small portion of us that fit into the category of Memory Keepers..
I sit here tonight and think of the cards on my table waiting to be mailed. To someone that posts the casualty press releases they are names; to us they are stories, lives, people. I think of the card going to a wife kissing her husband's picture at his memorial service. I think of the soldier that was sent home from deployment due to a mass, only to pass four months later from cancer. There's the story of the dual military Air Force couple killed in a car accident one day after he returned from a two year tour in Korea. There's the story of the mother who wants answers to her son's death; it is explained as non-combat but she has no answers. I think of the soldier that was to be married in a few months and the other soldier with a seven month old baby at home. There's an Airman that had been featured in a magazine before, a female Airman who felt that she was taking part in history, and a soldier that lost a battle with PTSD. These are the memories we keep.