"Memorial Day..."

"It's All quiet now..."

... but one hundred and fifty years ago today, these artillery pieces were bombarding Confederate positions just several hundred yards away... close enough that the commanding officer of this battery was shot and mortally wounded by a Confederate sharp shooter.

Battery De Golyer

Vicksburg, MS

The National Cemetery at Vicksburg had been adorned with fresh flags for the upcoming Memorial Day and celebration of the Sesquicentennial of the Battle and Siege.

Vicksburg National Cemetery

Vicksburg, MS

There are 18,000 graves located here...  approximately 17,000 of them are those of Union soldiers from the Civil War.  Of that number, about 75% are unknown... that's a lot of young men whose families never knew exactly what happened to their sons, husbands, and brothers.

Vicksburg National Cemetery

Vicksburg, MS

The Confederate dead aren't eligible for burial here... initially they were buried behind Confederate Lines... and later were relocated to the Vicksburg City Cemetery (Cedar Hill Cemetery) in an area named 'Soldiers' Rest.'  There are approximately 5,000 Confederate soldiers interred here... of that number, only 1,600 are identified.

Confederate Monument

Cedar Hill Cemetery

"Soldiers' Rest"

Vicksburg, MS

I recognize the honor and the integrity of all of these men who died in this conflict.

Locally, I like to purchase flags and decorate those graves here in my area.  I especially like to focus on those graves that appear to be in neglect... their families have either died out... moved away... something happened.

This headstone pretty much describes everything to me... he was a pilot and he didn't return from a mission.  I've never seen any flowers or any notice of family for this man.

This headstone is explicit as well. It tells us that Private Henry was killed in action at the Remagen Bridgehead in Germany.  This was right at the END of the war.

Bless his heart...

This is a new one for me... meaning that I hadn't seen it before.  The date of death indicates that he could have died in Europe at the end of World War I... supposedly the war to end all wars.

Do the math, if you will... these three young men were really just boys...

This one is special to me.  This is the grave of a long time family friend, "Uncle" Otis.  He and his brother, Glen, went to Europe together after the United States became involved in that conflict.  Glen Crosby, I've been told, held the distinction of being one of the first American soldiers to die in this war.

"Uncle" Otis would tell me stories about the War. Imagine that... getting first hand stories from someone who was actually there! He once told me that his job was to fire a water-cooled Browning Machine gun out over 'No Man's Land.'

He told me of this one night when the water pump on the gun broke.  This meant that the barrel didn't cool... the barrels in these weapons were replaceable, but it was also time consuming.  He said that in the time that it would take to replace the barrel, that the Germans could come across and kill them all under cover of darkness.

He talked of how the barrel started turning red... then orange... then blue... and then white... and he told me that white is the hottest that metal can be... and that little bits of the barrel started sticking to the rounds that were zipping across the fields that night.

We call athletes 'heroes'...  

those same athletes talk about 'going to war...'

I call Bullshit on that...

These men above are heroes...

~shoes~