Memorial Day Weekend Activities

Yesterday there was a Patriot Guard mission to place flags on all the graves at the two state veterans cemeteries. Since my father in law is a Vietnam veteran and spending the summer with us from Florida, I asked him to come along. Our plan was to go to the larger cemetery in Middletown. Since we would have to leave around 8 AM for the hour drive down, I suggested coffee brewed at home and breakfast sandwiches with hash browns from Cumberland Farms. My wife had a dog agility event Saturday, so we were all up to get out early. While watching the 7 AM news on Fox 61 CT they reported about the flag placing event, and encouraged viewers to be in Middletown at 9 AM. There are 13,000 graves that needed flags so come and help. We grabbed our breakfast and hit the highway. 

While traveling down I-91 south through Wethersfield, I had a thought. Everyone always focuses on the big cemetery in Middletown, forgetting about the smaller one in Rocky Hill across from the veterans home and hospital. I told my father in law there was a change in plan, that we were going to Rocky Hill instead and why. He was fine with that. The graves in that cemetery are mostly veterans that died at the veterans home or hospital.

We got there to initially find a lone cemetery worker and two other Patriot Guard members. By 9 o'clock about another dozen volunteers showed up, including a couple of families with kids. Promptly at 9 AM we started placing flags and were done by 09:35. All 1,713 graves were adorned with a small American flag. The kids all did a good job and were respectful and quiet, no running around and being obnoxious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was happy that my father in law and I got to do something directly related to the true meaning of Memorial Day. After we were done in Rocky Hill we did go down to Middletown to see if maybe they needed more help. Nope, they were done too. My father in law drove through that area of Middletown for 35 years while working at Pratt & Whitney and never knew the cemetery was there. I took him on a drive through the whole cemetery and he agreed it was a beautiful place. 

To most people they need this little reminder to at least stop and think about what the day means.

I wish I had thought of doing this for the ride to and from the cemetery, but it was too late and I didn't have time before we left. But I did it when I got home and have been driving it around since yesterday. I had one guy come up to me and tell me he had Stephen's dad as a baseball coach (so did I) and about playing on the athletic fields named in his honor at Ellington High School. I told the guy I knew Stephen well and his family well.

As a refresher about PFC Tingley, read this post from last fall. He was a child hood friend that was killed in the Beirut barracks bombing on October 23, 1983

Amazingly, he made the November 1983 cover of Soldier of Fortune magazine that came out right after he was killed. That's him right on front holding his M16 and M203 in full ruck. This is a photo of my copy I got off eBay.

This is my tribute patch on my biker vest

The other person I think about on this day died in Vietnam when I was in second grade, Whitney T. Ferguson, III. I wrote about him recently in this page about visiting "The Wall" in Washington, DC. He was killed in action in Tay Ninh Province on 03/11/1969. Older friends of mine went to school with him. He was the only person from Vernon to die in Vietnam.

Whitney T. Ferguson, III

Tomorrow morning at dawn, in accordance with USC 4 Section 7 Paragraph (m) my flag will be lowered to half-staff until noon, when it will be raised back to full staff with the POW/MIA flag below it. My telescoping flagpole requires the second flag to be removed, and the US Flag placed on the second spot to accommodate half-staff display. I will fly the POW/MIA flag until next weekend and then again in November for Veterans Day.