Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial day

today its memorial day in the us; always on the last monday of may. its a public holiday, and typically marks the beginning of the summer vacation season (well, hot it is; since a few days its over 30 degrees and very sunny; the pool at our apartment complex is open again; jeeejj!). my friend wikipedia tells me that memorial day was formerly known as decoration day, "and was first recorded to have been observed by freedmen (freed enslaved southern blacks) in Charleston, South Carolina in 1865, to remember the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. Over time, it was extended after world war I to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. Now known as Memorial Day, it is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces."
above i photographed the approximately 20,000 flags that they placed last friday in the boston common. each flag represents a massachuttes citizen who died in wars and military conflicts during the last 100 years. everyone was taking pictures of them; but you were not allowed to walk through them...

4 comments:

Julie B said...

Nice pic! Pauline told me about it and i went this evening to take pictures, but somebody had removed them by 6pm... I guess i shouldn't have gone to the lab beforehand...

biebkriebels said...

It is an impressive photo. To remind you that every flag was a soldier. Such a wast of lives.

Walk in New York said...

Superber photo, j'adore le focus choisi, magnifique

Shannon said...

You took a fantastic shot Cat. It always feels weird when people say "Happy Memorial Day" to me because it doesn't seem like that happy of a day and I think your flag shot illustrates why it doesn't. Can't feel that good about all those lives gone.