Memorial Day

 

Happy Birthday Dad. We all miss you. It’s May 30

th, your birthday and the traditional Memorial Day in the U.S., or as my grandparents called it, Decoration Day. Although his birthday was a day to celebrate, it was also a very somber day as the nation honors the service of military members who paid the ultimate price for their service. Dad served but we were fortunate that he did not pay the price unlike so many others through the years. WWII ended before he was able to join the Marines and served for a couple years.

Our family had one veteran who paid the ultimate price – my Great Uncle Lynn Mort. He fought in France during the first world war. He contracted Spanish Flu, which was a pandemic at the time, and passed away from it like so many other military members. He was honored with the naming of the Lynn Mort American Legion Post in Lake Elsinor, California. Today, both Dad and Lynn are memorialized in our hometown with these flags on a pole outside my boyhood home.