The hurricanes got you, got me, got us all, even got our Huey… There was no saving the ole girl, and in early May I was there, for her decommissioning ceremony.
A gathering of soldiers. To them, the Huey was more than a machine. It was taxi, cavalry, ambulance and hearse.
Many of these men never saw their dead buddies. The Huey took them elsewhere. Their version of a funeral was the Farewell To Warrior ceremony. One soldier places the boots, the second stabs the bayonet between the boots, the third places the helmet upon the stock, the fourth places the dog tags upon the helmet, somebody plays Taps … and everybody feels.
There goes the Huey…
…and there go the soldiers who rode her. They are in
their seventies now, walking past Medal of Honor recipient Doug Fournet, their fellow soldier, who like so many, missed five of their seven decades…
On Memorial Day I attended the Avenue of Flags at
Orange Grove – Graceland cemetery. It is entirely fitting that the arch above the entrance remain mangled. Those who live in the 706’s understand.
These aren’t just flags. They’re casket flags. These were folded with respect, and handed to the woman in black. Clutched to, cried on, it is deeply humbling to be in the presence of nearly 1100 flags, representing all those lives, and the dominoes of their death.
Our ole mayor. Here in the AM dressed in a suit, here again at sundown, dressed for labor, leading by example.
Event organizer Ted Harless, gathering up the flags.
Each one an American life…
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