TheBanyanTree: Memorial Day

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I bought a new flag.  Our flag was worn out, fading, and frayed.  So, I
bought a new one.  It’s still in its package.  I’ll open it up later and see
if the pole fits into the old bracket screwed onto our house.  I usually
start flying our flag on Memorial Day and then retire it for the season on
Labor Day when the weather begins to get unpredictable.

I fly it for all the veterans, although no one in my family, that I know of,
has been killed in combat.  My paternal grandfather made it through World
War I with a Purple Heart.  My maternal grandfather and his brothers got
through World War II.

Ray made it through Korea, although to be honest, he never saw action.  He
was stationed in Japan, because he picked up Japanese so well, and became an
interpreter.

After 9/11, we saw flags everywhere, everyone had one proudly displayed on
their homes, and now they’re a rare sight.  What happened?

My thoughts today are with the men and women and their families who
sacrificed their lives in Iraq and other parts of the world serving our
country.  I hang my new flag in honor of them.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com

Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever
to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
~Elizabeth Stone