Memorial Day 2012

If you've been reading me for a while, you know that I always use this blog as a means to show my relatives that I have decorated the family graves once again. And, since there are quite a few pics, I'll put 'em under the fold to help the main page load a bit quicker. If you wanna see more, you know the drill.

 

These are the main concern - from right to left - my father, my grandfather, my grandmother, and my aunt.

This is the Borland section in the older area of the cemetery. These would be my Dad's grandparents with an aunt and an uncle.

Another view.
 

Last year, I had an extra flag or two and decided to try to find a neglected veteran's grave and put the remaining flags out for them. I had a bunch this year, so I went wandering. This style of headstone seemed to be government provided for veterans - I found several. No dates on a lot of them, but as you'll see, I got into a pretty old section.

This style is pretty easy to spot - it's the bronze version I'm sure is still available to veterans now. Same as Dad's.

Here's another old headstone. These things were so sun bleached and the sun was glaring down pretty intensely, so it really washed out the lettering beyond the capabilities of the Droid camera. However, I had a difficult time reading them, too.

Not a veteran - as far as I know. This just tickled me - by damn ol' Toby is gonna be remembered for the ages by this family. Good dog, Toby, good dog.

Just a couple shots near Dad's grave that show how well the cemetery is decorated. Frankly, I had to do quite a bit of walking to find untended veterans' graves.

This one was pretty easy to spot. WWI, died in combat, apparently. Rest in peace, doughboy. Thank you for your service.

Another of the "free" headstones, with some info.

Some had the rank of the deceased, which improved my search considerably.

And last but not least, when I saw the stars, I knew I was in luck. Those markers have been there for a day or three - the veterans buried here were members of the G.A.R., which was an organization of Civil War Veterans - more info at the link.

I really did enjoy walking around trying to find these old warrior's headstones, and I have a lot more territory  not covered for next year. I have no idea if anyone will notice my efforts or not, and truly I do not care. I started this endeavor just to learn something and to perhaps ease some souls - letting them know they have not been completely forgotten.