Happy Memorial Day

[ALLVOL]

I hope my Hog friends had a great Memorial Day and remembered what this day is all about. I know this fan base well enough to know you did.
Thank you to those who serve, have served and most importantly those who gave all. And to any Gold Star family members on this site may God grant you solace.

[Birminghog]

Well put, ALLVOL. My wife and I paused at 3:00 this afternoon and I read "In Flanders Fields". I know that WWI is not the origin of Memorial Day, but "In Flanders Fields" is the best poem I know as a war memorial.

[Tejano Jawg]

I took this picture in the Fall of 1994 in Colleville-sur-Mer, when the towns in northern France and Normandy were still celebrating the 50th anniversary of D-Day, the largest invasion in history. The American Cemetery, overlooking Omaha Beach, is one of the most beautiful places on earth. When I happened upon the marble cross of Porter Woods, a paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division, 2 things got my attention—one, that he was from Arkansas, no doubt from a small town (since most of them are). And two, that he died on the day of the invasion, June the 6th.

Several hours before the beach landings, Operation Overlord began with the action of the British glider troops at the far eastern end of Normandy, at Pegasus Bridge, and the American paratroopers inland to the west. It all started with them. I always wondered, did Porter die in a firefight, late in the day? Or was he one of many paratroopers to drown in a field flooded by the Germans, before he fired a single shot?