May 2016
As we pause to think and remember Memorial Day (Decoration Day to us oldies), our hearts are touched again by those who have laid down their lives for our freedom. From before the Revolutionary War until present, our family, like many others, have given a fair share of their members to years of service in order to guarantee the freedoms we have as Americans. Our minds always revert back to the our early years in Ironton, Ohio, when every school child marched with their fresh flowers in the parade to the end where the bouquets were loaded onto trucks and delivered to soldiers graves throughout the county. I remember well the soldiers who fought in the Spanish American War and the special floats for those who had fought in the Civil War and were no longer with us. I marched every year including the year I graduated, either with my class, the band or a special group on a float. It was a school day, so attendance was necessary, but no one had to be forced to do so. It was our hono