Memorial Day Memory

Memorial day 2012 seemed like any other day, however, we took our walk up the
mountain and then I called Lauren.  I told her a story about a Decoration day,
which preceded what we now call Memorial day.  On that day, people decorated graves of men who died in the early wars, starting with the American Civil War. It was
in 1935 and I was age 10.  I remember that day because my father took us to wave
flags along the route to Greenfield Cemetery located off Greenwich St. Hempstead
where we lived at that time.  My father was appointed Deputy Sheriff, a political
plum and he was assigned to help maintain order at such events. When the parade
was passing in front of us, he opened a space where I could get a good view of the
main marchers coming into view.  Along the route came an open touring car with a
number of blue clad uniformed men. They were old soldiers of the Union Army who
were part of the day's celebration. Veterans, just about as old as I am now.  My father wanted me to get a good look at these men because they were the
few remaining survivors of the bitter war between the North and South.  I can almost see them now with their quaint blue caps and uniforms that are only pictures
in American History books. They were sitting upright, waving American flags at the
bystanders and smiling.  These old timers who fought the terrible battles of a war

between the States just about 70 years before and while a small ten year old holding on to his father's hand looked wide-eyed and somewhat mystified not realizing he was watching living history in the flesh, not actors in a play but real, live people who were the last of an Age.