Veteran's Day ~ Calverton National Cemetery

The largest of the 130 National Cemeteries is the Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island, NY. Calverton National Cemetery conducts more than 7,000 burials each year.

It is truly humbling.

"The National Cemetery honors Veteran's with a final resting place and lasting memorials that commemorate their service to our nation. The National Cemetery Administration strives to provide burial benefits to those who gave so much for their country. To the National Cemetery Administration this is more than a mission ~ it is a Sacred Trust." ( taken from the Department of Veteran's Affairs)


Ray's Dad is buried here, and each year at this time Ray and his brother and sister visit the cemetery. Ray and I go there at other times throughout the year but usually in the Fall it is a trip that they make together (Dad's birthday is October 17, and there is Veteran's Day, and Dad passed away on November 21, so they choose a weekend at this time of year to visit the grave together and then to visit places and beaches that they used to summer at as kids. Long Island holds many happy memories for them. I would imagine it is a very bittersweet visit for them.).



Ray's Dad, Harry, came to America from Sweden, and his 'immigration' story, and his heroic war efforts and his sacrifice as an American soldier can be found in a post I did about him HERE.




Ray also took some pictures of the many different symbols on the stones:
(This is something that I am always in awe of, so many different walks of life, so many different religions, so many different ethnic backgrounds, but ALL American heroes united in the effort to serve and defend their country.)



I found these symbols so interesting that I went in search to find information on them.
A full listing of symbols and their meanings can be found HERE if anyone else is interested.

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE




I watched the flag pass by one day
It fluttered in the breeze
A young Marine saluted it
And then he stood at ease
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
He'd stand out in a crowd
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many fox holes were soldiers' graves?
No, Freedom Is Not Free

I heard the sound of Taps one night
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill
I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend?
I thought of all the children
Of mothers, and of wives,
Of fathers, sons, and husbands
with interrupted lives

And I thought about the graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
And of unmarked graves in Arlington...
No, Freedom Is Not Free

~ Author Unknown


"America's Not At War.

Our Military Is At War.

America Is At The Mall."

~ Author Unknown


Please remember the enormous sacrifices of our Veterans, please remember the great cost that affords us the freedoms we enjoy. Please pray for our military as they risk life, limb, and sanity.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!