ANC Lancer

Disclaimer: Not mine, not yours, lets share.

Author’s note: In fond remembrance, honor and respect for those who stood and fell for the red, white and blue.  I couldn’t let this day pass without recalling their sacrifice.

~*~ L ~*~ A ~*~ N ~*~ C ~*~ E ~*~ R ~*~

The sky was a pale baby blue, blushed pink in places by the early morning sun.  The spring breeze caressed his face and a voice in the wind called out to him.  Johnny’s eyes were drawn to the gentle rise in the land and his feet began to march down the path until he reached the beginnings of the upward slope, where he veered off the gravel to the lawn. 

The dew was still wet on the plush carpet of grass, moisture beaded like shiny diamonds on the blades of green.  The movement of his boots disturbed the fragile watery jewels sending them into glittering flight to land as wet splotches on black leather. 

On the hilltop was a field of etched stones surrounded by a white fence formed of pickets that stood side by side like silent sentries as they guarded the hallowed ground.  Johnny stopped at the gate, and hugged himself in a somber embrace as he watched his father and brother, decked out in their dress uniforms, moving amongst the tombstones. 

Murdoch and Scott worked until every headstone had a potted lily in front of it. The tall stem lifted the white bloom upward and the air current caused it to sway in rhythm to the wind’s song.  On some graves they also placed small American flags, their colors looking vibrant in contrast to the cold gray of the stones.  At the last grave they bowed their heads in prayer.

Amid the glory of flowers and fluttering flags, a keen awareness of the mysteries of life and the finality of death seized Johnny’s heart and squeezed from it, not pain, but respect for those warriors who lie beneath the living earth so that he could walk upon free ground.  

Memorial Day was a time to honor those men and women who fell in service to their country; they made the ultimate sacrifice for liberty.  However, for him it was also a day to give thanks that his father and brother could stand amongst the field of stones and not lie below it.  When his father and brother turned to leave, Johnny held the gate open for them, as they stepped through, he snapped off a proud salute.

The End

Southernfrau

Memorial Day 2010