Five Wonderful Memorial Day Stories Around the Web

We've rounded up five inspiring stories from all over the Internet in celebration of Memorial Day.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on May 30 2010

Memorial Day is more than just a day off from work—it’s a day to honor the soldiers who have died in battle defending their homeland. We’ve rounded up a sampling of Memorial Day stories about soldiers and their survivors from all over the web that are sure to inspire you. We hope you’ll take a look.

In the Los Angeles Times, a father celebrates his first Memorial Day since losing his son in Afghanistan.

“I want to remind people that when they see a veteran, they should go shake his hand or buy him a cup of coffee,” Xiarhos said. “And when the national anthem is played at the ballgame, stand up and put your hand on your heart: Never forget that people have died for you and for that flag.”

On CBS News, a touching video features Wayne Van Doren, a man whose family has been placing flags on the graves of soldiers each Memorial Day ever since World War II.

On NPR’s Weekend Edition,, a veteran’s group flies surviving World War II veterans across the country to see the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC.

“You know, there was the ticker tapes parades that we all saw on TV, in the newsreels. You know, that was only for a few. Most of these guys didn’t get that kind of welcome. And they’re going to experience something today that’s a welcome that they have never experienced before.”

In The New York Times’ Motherlode blog, a military wife and mother describes planting a cherry tree as a way for her children to count the months until their father comes home:

“We’re going to plant it and by the time Daddy comes home next year, it’s going to blossom. He’s going to be here to watch it bloom!” Ethan shouted, overcome with excitement.

MSNBC covers a new Facebook app that encourages users to memorialize soldiers through their status updates:

Facebook is debuting a Memorial Day campaign to remember the more than 2 million American soldiers who have died in service — from the Revolutionary War up to today. “The hope is to get as many Facebook users as possible to update their status with a message that honors a soldier and the war in which they fell as a casualty,” Facebook representative Alex Kirschner stated via e-mail.

In The Boston Globe, Sebastian Junger writes a wonderful essay on the nature of soldiers’ relationships to one another:

In the platoon I was with there were men of every race in the world, every political position, every economic background. I never heard these differences discussed in any meaningful way. As one of the soldiers said to me, “There are guys in the platoon who straight-up hate each other, but we’d all die for each other.’’

Filed under: General Interest, Heroes,

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