DAILY DOZEN: MEMORIAL DAY

Today, Memorial Day, is the day we remember those who served our country. As you enjoy your holiday with friends and family, please keep those brave military men and women in your prayers.

I found this blog entry from Joe Klein which I wanted to share:

Given the current frustration in Afghanistan, Rudyard Kipling's poem, The Young British Soldier, seems an apt tribute to the insane difficulties of fighting and dying far away, especially the famous last stanza:

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.

On a personal note, I'd like to add a tribute to those American diplomats who also serve in Iraq and Afghanistan--and face many of the same dangers, especially ied's and rockets, that the military does; some never come home, others suffer grievous wounds, all are marked forever by what they've seen. My oldest son has just completed a year of service in Baghdad...safely, Thank God. Welcome home, Chris! Well done, and thank you.

1. Serving the nation on Memorial Day. (Kansas City Star)
2. History Of Memorial Day. (USMemorialDay.org)
3. Memorial Day – Remembrance Day. (Daily Fresh News)

4. The Nation marks Memorial Day (Slide Show). (The Nation)
5. Honoring America's fallen heroes (Slide Show). (MSNBC)
6. Your Memorial Day tributes. (MSNBC)

7. On Memorial Day in Normandy, reminders of what we won--and lost. (Mother Jones)
8. Private Mike Mansfield: Just one Marine in Arlington Cemetery. (Politics Daily)
9. Special mementos left at Arlington are in Army's painstaking care. (CNN)

10. The Right Wing's Memorial Day attack on Obama. (Politics Daily)
11. Obama Memorial Day wreath-laying need not be at Arlington Cemetery. (Politics Daily)
12. Memorial Day: How To Get Involved. (Huffington Post)