I just posted a Memorial Day announcement on our home page.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.classcreator.com/Freeport-TX-Brazosport-1970/index.cfm

Steve

p.s. - Feel free to use any or all of it. I can email you the photo's if you cannot copy them.

Thanks Steve! Copied a couple of images. You have an interesting presentation ( single row ) but you could also put the graphic - text side by side, make 5 tables, 2 in each row, 10 altogether. I'm always needing more space, and we're not allowed more than 419 on the home page. Thanks for the the Memorial Week idea.

I am pulling this.
Needs some modifications.
Thanks for those of you who sent me the private messages.
Steve

Hi Steve,
Your message was great. Memorial Day is often overlooked as a time to pause and give thanks, honoring those who have paid the ultimate price. It is also a wonderful time to honor our Vets, both living and no longer with us, a simple reminder that the appreciation is still alive and well in our society. May is Armed Forces Appreciation Month also! Officially, National Military Appreciation Month!
www.nmam.org/wesupportu.jtml
In these challenging times, it's always nice to know that a gentle reminder to honor our Troops is but one small way to show our Thanks for all the sacrifices, past, present and future. That "message" is one we have posted all year long, if not on a homepage, then on a Tribute to the Troops page.
There are some graphics on the Month of May page, a great you0tube from Margaret and somewhere in these forums is the In Flanders Fields post also.

This message is from an email I received yesterday. It is thought provoking and a worthy read.
It is well worth passing along.

A POEM WORTH READING
(Author Unknown)

He was getting
old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And tho' sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew whereof he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For old Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Someone who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension small.

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end?

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

Pass On the Patriotism! YOU can make a difference!!!

Kris,
Thanks for the poem and the quote from Abe Lincoln. Appreciate all ideas entered to the Forum. There is no more need to outsource!

Glad a read down! I was cleaning my glasses because I couldn't find it!. Let us know when it goes back up. I did see the military tribute which I will use for Armed Forces Day!

Thanks.

Wonderful ideas. You started a lot of ideas flowing. Put your s back on.

Here's the poem often read at Memorial Day services,
In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields by Major 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.

Inspiration for the poem — In Flanders Fields

During the Second Battle of Ypres,a Canadian artillery officer,Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2 May, 1915 by an exploding shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major John McCrae.

John was asked to conduct the burial service owing to the chaplain being called away on duty elsewhere. It is believed that later that evening John began the draft for his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields'.

an excellent graphic on the same topic

Here's a background that is part of the "theme" for any patriotic moment...

just one more for the poppies in Flanders Fields..

I love this....Watch it all the way to the end. M:O)

thank you

Finally, I got it done!

http://www.classcreator.com/Freeport-TX-Brazosport-1970/index.cfm

Steve

Thanks for all the great ideas!

Here's another video:

Alice

Wow, Steve, I am impressed! That took a lot of work and research. Thanks for sharing.

Now, I am sure there is a very logical reason, but you did not include the Revolutionary War or the Civil War. What was your thinking there? ...M:O)

Logical? Nope.
Only thing I can blame it on was I worked on that in bit-and-pieces while working the night shift.
{I soooooo want to retire soon!}
It has been corrected, but later I will be trying again to verify the numbers.
I owe you a debt of gratitude!

Steve

Thanks, Steve!
It's a wonderful addition to any Veteran's page also!
Also a sad reminder of the fact that Freedom is never Free!
Many schools teach very little about the Memorial Day holiday any longer, and it is up to many of us to keep the reminders out there, so we do not lose the lesson!
Perhaps we shall one day we shall experience "Peace on Earth", until then, thanks for honoring those who have paid the ultimate price!
Thanks again for the excellent reference and visuals!

Well, Steve, I went and looked again at your homepage. The numbers for the Civil War are startling to me.

Thanks for the update. My sense of completeness feels better!

I might have to steal a little or a lot!

M:O)

FYI Some references for corrections

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War

Naming of day "Decoration Day"

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may30.html

Margaret - I used this for the Civil War Dead
http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm

Jack - I used this for Decoration Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decoration_Day
I will look into this tonight after I have a chance to research further. Personally, when time permits [tonight - I am heading to work shortly], I TRY to find sourcs to 'back up' what I use from Wikipedia, since their information is mostly posted by individuals such as us, and not 'documented' from sources such as say the encyclopedia manufacturers.

I was just noting that you typed "Declaration" vs Decoration. Not being able to proofread my own stuff has always amazed me The spanish war value is a similar typo. I think it was transposed with civil war figure?

Here's some links that might help (please note they differ)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war

http://www.americanfamilytraditions.com/war_casualties.htm

Even though one source I listed is from the "gov", I've also found out that even those can be suspect. My dad believed anything if it was in a newspaper

For example, read note at the end of wiki link about revolutionary war figures - government value is not correct.

Corrected the Spanish American War numbers, and thank you so much.
However, I find both Declaration as well as Decoration Day.
Maybe someone in Washington can clarify this?
Obviously, more research is needed.
I fall back on my post of the 18th regarding Wikipedia.

[Do they still make a World Book encyclopedia? - That is what we used in school - no fancy internet.]

Again, thanks again!

Steve,

Thanks for all your research and ideas in putting together your tribute to Memorial Day. It's such a good idea that I am going to use most of your material, and as I looked up war info on the Internet, I noticed that some of the war deaths are reported differently by various sources. I think the numbers are representative of the sacrifices paid for all these wars and conflicts, even if they are not precise. BTW, I am going to add the War of 1812, from 1812-1815 with 2,260 deaths.

Thanks again for all the work you put into this and for sharing it with us!

Alice

Thanks Alice. That was put together rather quickly, then I had to do some revisions thanks to some sharp eyed fellow Admin's here to whom I am indebted!

It is amazing to me how many different sites there are with such statistics, and how far off they are from each other on their numbers.
I have already started research for Veterans Day. I hope to do something with some links to audio of the different services 'songs,' as well as patriotic songs such as 'God Bless America,‘ ‘Stars and Stripe Forever,’ etc. Lots of Sousa music.
Any ideas from anyone would be greatly appreciated for this. As this develops, perhaps somehow I can share it with folks without having to post it, so it can be tweaked, and everyone can use it and/or modify it for their own site.
Any thoughts on this from anyone?

Steve

Steve,

Another YouTube video...

Jim

Another interesting approach is on this link at history.com
history of Memorial Day/history.com

another site for interesting insights includes the arlingtoncemetery.net

For your playlist, in addition to John Phillip Sousa,there is the wonderful music from the Service Academies and the bands of each Service, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Army,etc, their theme songs, as well as the standard modern day songs such as Lee Greenwood and Ray Charles, Kate Smith, The Mormon tabernacle Choir among many others and their variations of America the Beautiful, God Bless America and the Star Spangled Banner,etc

Also tons of ideas on photobucket.com to make a collage of pictures,etc. The ideas are seemingly endless.
Happy (and Safe)Memorial Day to all!

I just received this in an email. If I can figure out how to post a pic here for the zillionth time I will share!

I did it! I seem to get some phobic thing going about posting pics in here. M:O)

Thanks to everyone for, once again, making this so easy for me with your great ideas!

Best,
Diana

Here's one I just created. It's a slight variation on one I saw elsewhere.

Jim,
Thanks for the most excellent graphic! And Thanks to everyone and their great contributions and ideas!

A safe and significant Memorial Day to all!

Here's just one more visual on the subject...

Oops! One more! Sorry...i forgot this one!...

One more, this one with a deeper spiritual perspective...

and one more background for the Old Red White and Blue!

And one more background for the ol' Red White and Blue!
This presents the stars and stripes almost "seamlessly"...

and one final "salute" on the subject...

and one last "word" from a just received e-mail, worthy of passing along...and a heartfelt Thank You to our Veterans and their families!