And as the afternoon wanes on Memorial Day
 

It occurs to me that once again... It was the best of days. It was the worst of days.
God Bless America.

Memorial Day 2010 SF
 

Absolutely Sir. It was a beautiful Memorial Day in San Francisco, a bit cold at first and then the sun burned through. The chill didn't stop a large crowd from attending the Presidio ceremonies. It was great to see proud a veteran of Pearl Harbor standing next to the young ROTC cadets, and hear a beautiful rendition of the Gettysburg Address.

I was able to attend the very touching "Lost at Sea" Ceremony aboard the USS Pampanito, in which a bell was rung, a description read, and a rose was given to a Navy wife for each of the 52 US submarines lost in WW2. Retired USN Admiral Lee gave an excellent speech.

As far as I was concerned the only cloud in the sky was Gavin Newsome, the sleazy mayor of San Francisco. He was on the Presidio Ceremony program, and was scheduled to speak alongside the other state and national figures, apparently he had other plans. ( When I first saw his name on the itinerary I thought well maybe he isn't a total write off, if he understands the debt we owe our servicemen, I should have known better.)

His loss, Thank You all for your service to our beautiful nation.

I concur. My work travels today took me past a dozen cemeteries. They were all filled with flags and people, taking the time to remember, I guess. I saw VFW, DAV, Legion, and JROTC color guards and a lot of folks with their heads bowed. I took no notice of sales, promotions, or pool openings.

I spent a couple of hours at Mount Tahoma National Cemetary (sic) in the rain, missed the ceremony, but honored friends, fallen comrades and others who gave all...

Put up the flags (US and 1st SF Regiment) even in the rain.

I was invited to speak on the Korean War at The Sunset Lane Memorial Park (Cemetery) in Port Orchard, WA at 11AM. I did so, and it was well received. I represented the RICA (Korean War Airborne Ranger Inf. Companies Assn. Due to my subject material.

My wife and I then left and proceeded to the Washington Memorial Cemetery, at SeaTac, WA, Where I was invited to present the US Army wreath at 3PM at that ceremony.

We then had a few drinks and a great dinner together at the 13 Coins Restaurant in the SeaTac area.