May 26th, Saturday – Memorial Day, Let’s Remember

Slo-Mo on The Road of Retirement.  That just about describes our day today.  Starting with this morning neither of us was anxious to get moving.  Of course, this might have had something to do with the early morning – like 3 am – fly by of our National Guard fighter friends.  You do know when they are in the area!

Since they do seem to be rather active of late, I thought it might be nice to find out who they actually are.  You know it’s all about the history and culture of places we’re at.  So we’re talking about the 101st Air Refueling Wing which is a unit of the Maine Air National Guard, stationed at Bangor Air National Guard Base, Bangor, Maine.

According to their bio sheet their mission is:  The 101st Air Refueling Wing’s KC-135 Stratotanker mission is to provide the core aerial refueling capability for the United States Air Force and the Air Guard. This unique aircraft enhances the Air Force’s capability to accomplish its primary missions of Global Reach and Global Power. It also provides aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied nation aircraft. The KC-135 is capable of transporting litter and ambulatory patients during medical evacuations.  Now we both know.

Met another interesting individual today, name of Bob.  Bob is what is called the tail gunner for all RV Yankee Tours.  His duty is to fix and repair whatever might go wrong on vehicles that are part of a tour group.  I found out that either he does the actual repair or if the vehicle needs to be taken to a repair shop his job is to go with the vehicle and oversee the repairs to make sure they are done right.  He’s got years in the business and, of course, some strong opinions based on experience of the best and the worst of the current batch of RV’s being produced today.  While some of the brands he mentioned as the worst of the worst didn’t surprise me, however, I was surprised by some of the other brands that were on his worst of the worst list.  He also gave me some pointers and things to keep an eye on regarding Graybeard.   Really enjoyed talking to him.

Rod from RV Yankee Tours also stopped by.  He is a very interesting gentleman who shared with me some of the rather interesting people that he’s had on some of his tours in the past.  His one piece of advice which I intend to take to heart next year:  go slow, always stay long enough in one area to completely immerse yourself in the history and culture of that area.   Good advice I say.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up our blog’s media files and continuing to back up past blog posts.  I also installed the second Max Air Vent Mate Cover.  Now we can keep both fans open in hot and stuffy weather even if and when it is raining outside.

Finally, let’s take a few moments and recall the history and meaning of this upcoming Memorial Day.

In May 1868, General John A. Logan, the commander-in-chief of the Union veterans’ group known as the Grand Army of the Republic, issued a decree that May 30 should become a nationwide day of commemoration for the soldiers killed in the recently ended Civil War. On Decoration Day, as Logan dubbed it, Americans should lay flowers and decorate the graves of the war dead whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.

American’s embraced the notion of “Decoration Day” immediately. That first year, more than 27 states held some sort of ceremony, with more than 5,000 people in attendance at a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. By 1890, every former state of the Union had adopted it as an official holiday. But for more than 50 years, the holiday was used to commemorate those killed just in the Civil War, not in any other American conflict. It wasn’t until America’s entry into World War I that the tradition was expanded to include those killed in all wars, and Memorial Day was not officially recognized nationwide until the 1970s, with America deeply embroiled in the Vietnam War.

Although the term Memorial Day was used beginning in the 1880s, the holiday was officially known as Decoration Day for more than a century, when it was changed by federal law. Four years later, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 finally went into effect, moving Memorial Day from its traditional observance on May 30 (regardless of the day of the week), to a set day—the last Monday in May. The move has not been without controversy, though. Veterans groups, concerned that more Americans associate the holiday with first long weekend of the summer and not its intended purpose to honor the nation’s war dead, continue to lobby for a return to the May 30 observances.

Despite the increasing celebration of the holiday as a summer rite of passage, there are some formal rituals still on the books:

• The American flag should be hung at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day, then raised to the top of the staff.
• And since 2000, when the U.S. Congress passed legislation, all Americans are encouraged to pause for a National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. local time.

That’s it for today.  We had a real slo-mo day on the road of retirement.  But I’ll take it.  We have quite a few plans beginning next week in Schoodic, Acadia and Bar Harbor.  So for now we’ll just sort of rest and mend.  Especially me, unfortunately, somehow I threw my back out and I’m just taking life easy and giving it time to mend.

We had a great day, once again we spent it together which is how we like it.  We hope you had a great day as well.  Never forget life is a precious gift given to us one day at a time with each day meant to be lived to the fullest.  In closing this Memorial Day weekend, I would like to share this with you:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before