Before Memorial Day became only a three day weekend and a vehicle for sales promotions, it represented real emotional commitment to the service men who died defending our county. The Buddy Poppy program developed by the Veterans of Foreigh Wars has symbolized this committment since 1924. The poppy represents the poppies among the fallen soldiers at Flanders Field in WWI.
In Flander’s Field
by John McCrae
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead.
Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw,
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us, who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow,
In Flanders Fields.
As a kid I remember going to the cemetery on Decoration Day with flowers for the graves of our loved ones, particularly the soldiers. Apparently it was officially named Memorial Day in 1882 but that name never really grabbed the hearts and mind of Americans until the day was moved to the last Monday in May and became just another three day weekend. In 1967, Federal Law designated the day as a National Holiday and formalized the use of Memorial Day instead of Decoration Day. Just one more thing thoroughly messed up in the 60’s.
Take a moment this weekend to remember the real meaning of this day, maybe even visit a cemetery and take some flowers for the grave of a veteran. Put the real meaning of decoration day back in Memorial Day.
{ }
Dancing was more than rock and roll
Dancing in the 50’s either at a sock hop after a football game or the Prom was more than rock and roll. We loved Elvis and Bill Haley. We loved the fast dances. We all hoped to look cool swinging our dates to the rock and roll hits but if there was anything that revved up the frustrated sexuality of 50’s teenagers, it was the slow dance. Like this one.You held your date close and touched in ways not normally approved and you did it right in front of the chaperones. Your girl had her head resting against your shoulder, her breasts pressing up against your chest, one arm around her waist while you held her hand with the other. There weren’t really any steps to the slow dance. You just shuffled around the floor. It was hard to keep your mind on your feet with the hormones raging. Holding your girl tight was so close to the fantasies that you were supposed to keep out of your thoughts, it was a wonder that you could move your feet at all.
We weren’t boomers!
Teenagers in the 50’s were not baby boomers. We were war babies, conceived on leave or by dad’s who were not in the military. Then we started school in the midst of the economic and social vitality following the war. We hadn’t been indulged in our early years like our younger siblings but we hadn’t been beat down by the depression either. We were optimistic. We were tough and independent. We didn’t expect the world to shower us with our every need but we were happy when it did.
War babies own slow dancing
I think that the slow dance belongs to us war babies. We liked the fast dances. Rock and roll was our inspiration. But we knew what was important. We never forgot that nothing was better than holding your girl tight and moving with the rhythms of a romantic beat. When the boomers took over high school and college, their narcissism brought us new dances where you never touched your partner or even seemed to need them like the twist and it’s myriad mutations. Slow dancing lasted in to the 60’s.The last great slow dance was Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers. It captured all the frustrated sexuality and longing we war babies remember. Dancing has never been the same. Try to get that Loving Feeling with Norwegian Wood
{ }
Recent Comments