Memorial Day Commemorations

I went down to the monuments today to greet and meet some of the vets attending this weekend's commemorations, starting off with a candle light vigil this evening. So many stories and great conversations with people with lots of heart.

Featured here is Philip, aka 'Corky', a US Air Force vet and sub chief of the Yakama Warriors Association. He flew B52s, which, from what I understand, where the planes carrying nuclear bombs that were constantly on alert during the cold war. He greeted me with a bear hug and was all smiles during our conversation. He is here with a group of colleagues who will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington and participate in Monday's parade ("we're #17 in the parade: make sure you catch us!").

The first extra is a pic from a flag installation in progress during the whole long weekend to remember fallen soldiers. You go up to the installation, pick up a flag, with the pic and story of a soldier, and plant it on the Mall. The organizers expect to fill a sizable portion of the Mall with these flags...

The second extra is from a commemoration to celebrate nurses in the armed forces. It was done tastefully and respectfully.