City of Toledo can't maintain what it has, but wants to add more

These are two letters to the editor published in today's Blade:

Use inmates to upkeep cemetery

When I visited the burial sites of several family members in city-owned Forest Cemetery on Memorial Day, I was shocked beyond belief.

On a day where the cemetery would have more visitors than most other days, you would at least expect mowed grounds. The condition of this cemetery is deplorable. The grounds in some sections have ankle-high weeds. Some of the grave markers have sunk and have been swallowed by weeds so that it’s hard to read the inscribed names.

When my family made arrangements for my mother’s burial, we were told the fees included the upkeep of the grounds. We are able to locate my family members’ graves because we maintain them.

I sent a letter to Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins and City Council members to express my concerns and to make a suggestion.

I proposed that city leaders employ inmates to maintain the grounds. This will give inmates an opportunity to pay it forward, where otherwise they will just sit behind bars.

FRANCES SMITH
Eaglebrook Road

Forest Cemetery’s condition sad

Visiting Forest Cemetery on Memorial Day to pay respects to my family, I found the cemetery to be deplorable. The only sections that were mowed were the ones along the perimeter.

The grass was so tall in the cemetery’s interior that grave markers were obscured. How sad, especially on Memorial Day.

GEORGETTE ROBERTS
Pasadena Bouelvard

Forest Cemetery is a city-owned property and as Frances Smith wrote, the fees paid are supposed to cover upkeep of the facility.

The problem is, Toledo spends a lot of money doing unnecessary things while the basic services for existing things suffers.

Here is the editor's note published along with the letters:

Editor’s note: A City of Toledo spokesman said: “The grass at Forest Cemetery was high in some areas, but is being cut. We do not have funding to allow the staff level necessary to cut more frequently during the high-grass season. The Collins administration understands the frustration expressed by a few who have visited the cemetery.”

First, it does not matter how "few" or many might express frustration. Those are just the "few" who chose to take the time to write or call. The city made a promise to the families of those interred there that the property would be maintained - and it's not, at least, not very well.

But the bigger issue is that the city is struggling trying to perform all the mowing and the pothole filling while members of council are debating how to spend money they don't have to open pools and pay for painting murals.

They keep finding new ways to spend instead of ensuring that the limited funds can cover the ongoing costs of what we already have.

Oh - and just to pour salt in the wound, one councilman suggested that grieving families should actually pay more for grave sites - so they can fund the pools.

No wonder the population of Toledo is declining.

Memorial Day Tradition 2013

We moved into our current house in June, 2002. Each Memorial Day since, a small U.S. Flag has been placed in our yard - and in the yard of every house on our street.

Flags line 117th Street in Point Place.

I do not know the name of the man who places them, nor do I know his story, though I would like to. He puts them out early in the morning - early enough that no one is usually awake to see - on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

In 2010, I met him - sort of.

I was in the middle of a project with my hands full when Sam came in and told me that the man who gives us the flag was coming up the street. By the time I got my hands cleaned up and got outside, he was already on the other side of the street (we're the last house on one side) and about 3 houses up...so I called out to him.

Either he didn't hear me - or didn't want to acknowledge me.

As I walked quickly after him and he didn't answer my hails, I wondered if he didn't want be thanked for what he was doing. If maybe my recognition of his act might embarrassment him in some way.

But even as these thoughts were going through my mind, my feet continued in his direction. Despite so many of his generation believing they require no thanks for the service they performed, I believe we owe them a lifetime of gratitude and that any opportunity to say 'thank you' should never go by without those words being said.

So as he placed another flag and I approached, I said, "Excuse me, sir," and he looked up at me. I offered my hand and he grasped it firmly. I was struck by how large and strong his hand was, but how also by how gently he took mine. He was wearing both a hat and shirt with military markings, but all I could see where his eyes. I don't even remember the color, just the fact that they were clear and kind.

I told him that I always wanted to know whom to thank for our flag and now I could do so in person.

He didn't say anything - just nodded and gave my hand an additional squeeze.

Then he turned and began walking back up the street, placing flag after flag...

And still I do not know his name - but I know his heart.

So to our neighbor who does this in honor of those made the ultimate sacrifice, thank you!

We will never forget.

Memorial Day 2013 - American Military cemeteries around the world

It's Memorial Day weekend and many are starting the holiday early, including me. But it's more than a holiday for eating burgers on the grill - it's a time to reflect upon all that we have and remember those who died to ensure our freedoms and liberties.

I always tear up when I think about brave men and women willingly joining our military services, leaving family and friends and heading off to places unknown because they believe our nation and our way of life is worth defending - with their very lives if necessary.

So I thought I'd share with you some photos of the various military cemeteries around the world where those brave individuals found their final resting place.

The photos and information come from the American Battle Monuments Commission which is an agency within the executive branch of our government. It was established in 1923 to be "the guardian of our nation's overseas commemorative cemeteries and memorials."

ABMC administers, operates, and maintains 24 permanent American burial grounds on foreign soil. Presently there are 124,905 U.S. war dead interred at these cemeteries, 30,921 of World War I, 93,234 of World War II and 750 of the Mexican War. Additionally 6,237 American veterans and others are interred in the Mexico City National Cemetery and Corozal American Cemetery.

We will never forget.

Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial in France: contains the graves of 2,289 war dead, most of whom fought in the vicinity and in the Marne Valley in the summer of 1918.

Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium: contains the graves of 5,323 of our military dead, many of whom died in the 1944 Ardennes winter offensive (Battle of the Bulge).

Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial in France: contains the remains of 4,410 of our war dead, most of whom lost their lives in the Normandy and Brittany Campaigns of 1944.

Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial in England: contains the graves of 468 of our military dead.

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial site in England: contains the remains of 3,812 of our military dead; 5,127 names are recorded on the Tablets of the Missing.

Corozal American Cemetery in Panama: contains the remains of 5,424 American veterans and others who contributed to the construction, operation and maintenance of the Panama Canal.

Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in France: contains the graves of 5,255 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the campaigns across northeastern France to the Rhine River and beyond into Germany. The cemetery was established in October 1944 by the 46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company of the U.S. Seventh Army as it drove northward from southern France through the Rhone Valley into Germany. The cemetery became the repository for the fatalities in the bitter fighting through the Heasbourg Gap during the winter of 1944-45.

Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium: at this site rest 368 of our military dead, most of whom gave their lives in liberating the soil of Belgium in World War I.

Florence American Cemetery and Memorial site in Italy: contains 4,402 of our military dead, arrayed in symmetrical curved rows upon the hillside. They represent 39 percent of the U.S. Fifth Army burials originally made between Rome and the Alps. Most died in the fighting that occurred after the capture of Rome in June 1944. Included among them are casualties of the heavy fighting in the Apennines Mountains shortly before the war's end.

I'll add more from the website tomorrow...

Memorial Day 2012

(This post will stay up through Monday.)

Memorial Day is a day set side for the nation to honor and thank those who gave their lives for our Freedom.

Though one lone day is certainly not enough...

Let us never forget that our freedom is not free - that it was bought and paid for by those who went before. May we always remember the brave men and women who sacrificed their all for us and our way of life.

Memorial Day 2011 - part 4

Below is the text of President Ronald Reagan's remarks for Memorial Day in 1982 at Arlington National Cemetery. The speech may be almost 30 years old, but the message is still valid.

In America's cities and towns today, flags will be placed on graves in cemeteries; public officials will speak of the sacrifice and the valor of those whose memory we honor.

In 1863, when he dedicated a small cemetery in Pennsylvania marking a terrible collision between the armies of North and South, Abraham Lincoln noted the swift obscurity of such speeches. Well, we know now that Lincoln was wrong about that particular occasion. His remarks commemorating those who gave their ``last full measure of devotion'' were long remembered. But since that moment at Gettysburg, few other such addresses have become part of our national heritage -- not because of the inadequacy of the speakers, but because of the inadequacy of words.

I have no illusions about what little I can add now to the silent testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country. Words are even more feeble on this Memorial Day, for the sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them.

Yet, we must try to honor them -- not for their sakes alone, but for our own. And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice.

Our first obligation to them and ourselves is plain enough: The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we -- in a less final, less heroic way -- be willing to give of ourselves.

It is this, beyond the controversy and the congressional debate, beyond the blizzard of budget numbers and the complexity of modern weapons systems, that motivates us in our search for security and peace. War will not come again, other young men will not have to die, if we will speak honestly of the dangers that confront us and remain strong enough to meet those dangers.

It's not just strength or courage that we need, but understanding and a measure of wisdom as well. We must understand enough about our world to see the value of our alliances. We must be wise enough about ourselves to listen to our allies, to work with them, to build and strengthen the bonds between us.

Our understanding must also extend to potential adversaries. We must strive to speak of them not belligerently, but firmly and frankly. And that's why we must never fail to note, as frequently as necessary, the wide gulf between our codes of morality. And that's why we must never hesitate to acknowledge the irrefutable difference between our view of man as master of the state and their view of man as servant of the state. Nor must we ever underestimate the seriousness of their aspirations to global expansion. The risk is the very freedom that has been so dearly won.

It is this honesty of mind that can open paths to peace, that can lead to fruitful negotiation, that can build a foundation upon which treaties between our nations can stand and last -- treaties that can someday bring about a reduction in the terrible arms of destruction, arms that threaten us with war even more terrible than those that have taken the lives of the Americans we honor today.

In the quest for peace, the United States has proposed to the Soviet Union that we reduce the threat of nuclear weapons by negotiating a stable balance at far lower levels of strategic forces. This is a fitting occasion to announce that START, as we call it, strategic arms reductions, that the negotiations between our country and the Soviet Union will begin on the 29th of June.

As for existing strategic arms agreements, we will refrain from actions which undercut them so long as the Soviet Union shows equal restraint. With good will and dedication on both sides, I pray that we will achieve a safer world.

Our goal is peace. We can gain that peace by strengthening our alliances, by speaking candidly of the dangers before us, by assuring potential adversaries of our seriousness, by actively pursuing every chance of honest and fruitful negotiation.

It is with these goals in mind that I will depart Wednesday for Europe, and it's altogether fitting that we have this moment to reflect on the price of freedom and those who have so willingly paid it. For however important the matters of state before us this next week, they must not disturb the solemnity of this occasion. Nor must they dilute our sense of reverence and the silent gratitude we hold for those who are buried here.

The willingness of some to give their lives so that others might live never fails to evoke in us a sense of wonder and mystery. One gets that feeling here on this hallowed ground, and I have known that same poignant feeling as I looked out across the rows of white crosses and Stars of David in Europe, in the Philippines, and the military cemeteries here in our own land. Each one marks the resting place of an American hero and, in my lifetime, the heroes of World War I, the Doughboys, the GI's of World War II or Korea or Vietnam. They span several generations of young Americans, all different and yet all alike, like the markers above their resting places, all alike in a truly meaningful way.

Winston Churchill said of those he knew in World War II they seemed to be the only young men who could laugh and fight at the same time. A great general in that war called them our secret weapon, ``just the best darn kids in the world.'' Each died for a cause he considered more important than his own life. Well, they didn't volunteer to die; they volunteered to defend values for which men have always been willing to die if need be, the values which make up what we call civilization. And how they must have wished, in all the ugliness that war brings, that no other generation of young men to follow would have to undergo that same experience.

As we honor their memory today, let us pledge that their lives, their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered for as long as God gives life to this nation. And let us also pledge to do our utmost to carry out what must have been their wish: that no other generation of young men will every have to share their experiences and repeat their sacrifice.

Earlier today, with the music that we have heard and that of our National Anthem -- I can't claim to know the words of all the national anthems in the world, but I don't know of any other that ends with a question and a challenge as ours does: Does that flag still wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? That is what we must all ask.

Thank you.

Memorial Day 2011 - part 3

As Sam and I drove to our home Friday evening, we were greeted by a row of small U.S. Flags placed in every yard on our street. This is a Memorial Day tradition of one of our neighbors.

He places the flags in every yard just before Memorial Day and they stay throughout the summer and even into the winter, if they haven't been damaged by the weather.

I know it is a 'he' because I met him last year. And here is the story, certainly worth repeating, as told in my blog post last Memorial Day:

I was in the middle of a project with my hands full when Sam came in and told me that the man who gives us the flag was coming up the street. By the time I got my hands cleaned up and got outside, he was already on the other side of the street (we're the last house on one side) and about 3 houses up...so I called out to him.

Either he didn't hear me - or didn't want to acknowledge me.

As I walked quickly after him and he didn't answer my hails, I wondered if he didn't want be thanked for what he was doing. If maybe my recognition of his act might embarrassment him in some way.

But even as these thoughts were going through my mind, my feet continued in his direction. Despite so many of his generation believing they require no thanks for the service they performed, I believe we owe them a lifetime of gratitude and that any opportunity to say 'thank you' should never go by without those words being said.

So as he placed another flag and I approached, I said, "Excuse me, sir," and he looked up at me. I offered my hand and he grasped it firmly. I was struck by how large and strong his hand was, but how also by how gently he took mine. He was wearing both a hat and shirt with military markings, but all could see where his eyes. I don't even remember the color, just the fact that they were clear and kind.

I told him that I always wanted to know whom to thank for our flag and now I could do so in person.

He didn't say anything - just nodded and gave my hand an additional squeeze.

Then he turned and began walking back up the street, placing flag after flag...

And still I do not know his name - but I know his heart.

Happy Memorial Day and thank you to those who've gone before, thus ensuring that we have this day to celebrate their gift of our freedoms and liberties.

Memorial Day 2011 - part 2

This cartoon was sent to me via email. I don't know the source, but wanted to share it as part of our remembrances of those who have passed on after giving service to our great nation and preserving the freedoms we hold so dear. If you know the source, please share it so I can give proper credit.

Memorial Day 2011 - part 1

This cartoon was sent to me via email. I don't know the source, but wanted to share it as I think it says a lot about today's culture and interests. If you know the source, please share it so I can give proper credit.

Memorial Day tradition

Since moving into our current home in 2002, we've been blessed to have a neighbor who puts a US Flag on every property on the street on Memorial Day weekend. It's a beautiful site to see the flags lining both sides of the street.

For years, I've wondered who this person was and why he or she chose this option to celebrate Memorial Day. I wondered if they served or, perhaps lost a son or daughter in service.

And I've always wanted to offer my thanks, but never knew who it was that performed this wonderful act.

Yesterday, I met him - sort of.

I was in the middle of a project with my hands full when Sam came in and told me that the man who gives us the flag was coming up the street. By the time I got my hands cleaned up and got outside, he was already on the other side of the street (we're the last house on one side) and about 3 houses up...so I called out to him.

Either he didn't hear me - or didn't want to acknowledge me.

As I walked quickly after him and he didn't answer my hails, I wondered if he didn't want be thanked for what he was doing. If maybe my recognition of his act might embarrassment him in some way.

But even as these thoughts were going through my mind, my feet continued in his direction. Despite so many of his generation believing they require no thanks for the service they performed, I believe we owe them a lifetime of gratitude and that any opportunity to say 'thank you' should never go by without those words being said.

So as he placed another flag and I approached, I said, "Excuse me, sir," and he looked up at me. I offered my hand and he grasped it firmly. I was struck by how large and strong his hand was, but how also by how gently he took mine. He was wearing both a hat and shirt with military markings, but all I could see where his eyes. I don't even remember the color, just the fact that they were clear and kind.

I told him that I always wanted to know whom to thank for our flag and now I could do so in person.

He didn't say anything - just nodded and gave my hand an additional squeeze.

Then he turned and began walking back up the street, placing flag after flag...

And still I do not know his name - but I know his heart.

Happy Memorial Day!

Flag etiquette for Memorial Day

While many people display the U.S. Flag on a regular basis, some do so only on holidays and special days like Memorial Day, so I thought a little reminder of the etiquette for displaying our flag would be nice.

Most know that the flag is flown at half staff (it's only 'mast' on a watercraft) until noon and then raised to full-staff for the rest of the day. However, not everyone realizes that to fly a flag at half-staff you first raise it to the peak for a moment before lowering it to the half-way mark.

The Flag Code has no provisions for those of us with an angled flag pole jutting out from our house or porch and without an ability to place the flag at half staff. It is recommended that you affix a streamer of black crepe to the staff immediately below the spearhead of the U.S. flag. It should be no wider than 1 foot, but may be less wide to match the proportionality of the flag. It should be about 1-1/2 times the hoist of the fly (the shorter dimension; the height of the flag). It can be attached a with a bow-knot to the spearhead (top) of the pole, allowing the streamer to fall naturally. Alternately, you can affix black bow-knots, with or without streamers, placed at the fastening points.

Since we'll be attending many parades this weekend, remember to salute the flag as it it passes in procession by placing your hand over your heart, as you do when you pledge allegiance. Also remember that a salute is proper when raising and lowering the flag. The Flag Code says that a salute is held until the flag is unsnapped from the halyard or through the last note of music, which often accompanies the action, whichever is the longest.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

Volunteers needed to help place flags on graves for Memorial Day

If you have some time in the mornings, our veteran organizations would appreciate anyone who wants to help place flags on the graves of our service men and women before Memorial Day.

Volunteer help is needed at Forest Cemetery on Stickney near Bancroft and Sherman. This help is needed Saturday May 23, 2009 starting at 9:00 a.m. There will be Members of American Legion Post 110, Point Place Post, to direct the volunteers.

Calvary Cemetery also needs help tomorrow. Calvary is located on Parkside Blvd and Dorr St., main entrance on Parkside. Volunteers can contact American Legion Post #642 at 419-381-9259. Also Catholic War Veterans Post Logsdon-Walla #639 will have some volunteers working the cemetery starting approximately 9:00 a.m. Friday May 22, 2009.

Toledo's Memorial Day Parade will be Saturday. Parade line up is at 9 a.m. and the ceremony at the monuments in Civic Center will begin after the parade at 11:30.