MEMORIAL DAY IS FOR PEOPLE by Adrian Gwin of the Charleston Daily Mail as reprinted in his 1993 book Once Upon Ago To many of the newer generations, the only meaning of Memorial Day is that it's the day the swimming pool opens. They do not understand what it is and what it means--because it means nothing personal to them. Or it means something that their minds see as negative--they are "against" war and fighting, so Memorial Day which "glorifies war and fighting" is bad and to be avoided. But to the old people like me, Memorial Day is not that at all. Where I grew up--the deep South--Memorial Day was Decoration Day to everyone. It was the day that people decorated the graves of dead servicemen--and everyone else, but servicemen first that day. It's not a memorial-to-war day, as some young people have indicated they believe, but it is a day to honor the memory of individuals who are dead. When Decoration Day comes around again, I will have some thoughts about Bo Ostrovski, John Vardaman, and Grant Beaver. Bo Ostrovski was a light-hearted private in the army when I was in Germany during World War II. He was a member of the first reconnaissance patrol our company sent out in Germany. We found him and other patrol members shot in the backs, their hands tied behind their backs. If I had any idea where Bo is buried, I'd go to decorate his grave with flowers and a flag on May 30. He was my friend. John Vardaman was a volunteer in the Confederate army of 1861, who fought for his and my home area, middle Alabama. He died in 1906 and among his great-great grandchildren are my grandchildren. Were I in Smyrna, Alabama, on May 30, I'd decorate his grave with flowers and a flag. Grant Beaver was a lifelong resident of Leon, Mason County [West Virginia],who knew every serviceman's grave in the Leon Cemetery. For more than fifty years he decorated those graves with a flag every Memorial-Decoration Day. There were about a dozen graves of Union soldiers, and one grave of a Confederate soldier. Grant Beaver always decorated the Confederate's grave along with the Union soldiers' graves. He put a United States flag on every grave as a decoration. "The Confederate fought and gave his life for the cause he believed in. He did what he thought was right, I reckon, so I should decorate his grave, too," Grant told me years ago as he put flags on those graves for about the fiftieth time. Grant wasn't memorializing war--he was remembering human beings who had had a vital, fatal part in preserving this country for him and the rest of us. So I say to all who do not understand why we decorate servicemen's graves on memorial Day--we do it because they are a basic part of why we are here in the condition we are in--they got us where we are, so let's honor their memory. Let us remember the Bo Ostrovskis and the John Vardamans, and let us, like Grant Beaver, decorate every grave, because those people died fighting for what they believed was right. For those waiting for Memorial Day only for the swimming, there is a generation gap for sure. ---------------------------------- U.S. Army Sergeant Adrian S. Gwin, my dad, died two years ago this month, and I submit this article to you in his memory and honor on behalf of his widow and my mother, Dorothy, and my brother, Adrian and Dot's second son, Pat. Have a healthy and memorable Memorial Day, everyone! In Jesus, John (Complete contact information follows in signature.) ======================================================== John M. Gwin e.mail: JMcDGwin@zianet.com Snail Mail Address: 1845 Anderson Drive, Las Cruces, NM 88001 USA Telephone: (505) 522-2171 Netscape/AOL Instant Messenger Screen Name: Zianib GENEALOGY Home Page: http://www.zianet.com/jmcdgwin/genealogyhomepage.htm Nib Collection: http://www.zianet.com/jmcdgwin How to know God personally (No kidding!): www.gospelcom.net/navs/navinfo/resources/bridge/bridge.htm ========================================================