Memorial Day Weekend

It's Memorial Day Weekend. I try to visit the family graves and see what needs done to make them look nice.

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I actually went to Dad's grave last week. I took him some blue flowers. Dad

liked blue. He was in the Navy in WW II. I don't like the cemetary he is in. He knows this, as I told him before he died. It has too many rules-- like when you can put stuff on, when you have to take stuff off, etc. I hate the flat grave markers too, because unless you have all day to walk the cemetary, you can't just drive through and see people's names to know whether you could visit someone you once knew.

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My mom's dad (pictured) was a World War I vet, but they always manage to forget to put a flag on his grave. He's buried in a decent enough cemetary. A church cemetary in the township, with mostly real tombstones. He fought with the Polish Army in France. I never knew him, as he died when I was very young.

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My other grandfather wasn't in the service here, but I think he did serve in Finland. I think there is some rule that you couldn't leave unless you did military service. I know he wasn't in the Winter War, because he emigrated here way before then. His father, (my great-grandfather) did time in the service, because it was required before you could leave the country. This would have been around 1900. It said on his clearance papers that he served compulsory military time.

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Looking back in time I have quite a few military pictures. Uncles, great-uncles and cousins from another time and country. Many unidentified. All looking quite dignified. The first and third men in the back row are relations on my Polish side.

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