Photo
Huffington Post has some great photos of Memorial Day across the US.
I really appreciate the commemorations across the country. Even though there are talks about how the voluntary system has isolated those who serve from the rest of America (symbolized by the fact that neither of the two presidential candidates have served, which is apparently a first in American history), it’s great to see that the effort by those who do, isn’t forgotten.
Given that Denmark hasn’t been attacked since the Second World War, we’ve fought all of our battles away from our own boarders and done so, because we had promised our allies to stand by them. This makes the effort so remote from the ordinary dane that we tend to forget that we have lost men and women since World War II and that we still have trops in place in Afghanistan. Sure there are commemorations, but not at this scale - public holiday, parades and all.
And I know many Americans are more about the three day weekend than the rememberamnce, but still. The contrast is striking.

Huffington Post has some great photos of Memorial Day across the US.

I really appreciate the commemorations across the country. Even though there are talks about how the voluntary system has isolated those who serve from the rest of America (symbolized by the fact that neither of the two presidential candidates have served, which is apparently a first in American history), it’s great to see that the effort by those who do, isn’t forgotten.

Given that Denmark hasn’t been attacked since the Second World War, we’ve fought all of our battles away from our own boarders and done so, because we had promised our allies to stand by them. This makes the effort so remote from the ordinary dane that we tend to forget that we have lost men and women since World War II and that we still have trops in place in Afghanistan. Sure there are commemorations, but not at this scale - public holiday, parades and all.

And I know many Americans are more about the three day weekend than the rememberamnce, but still. The contrast is striking.

Video

Rolling Thunder Part III - the sight from Lincoln Memorial Circle.

Photoset

Rolling Thunder Part II

Impressing rolling parade consisting of thousands and thousands of veterans on motorcycles. Some brought their significant other — dog, male, female or teddy bear — while others enjoyed a cigar and rock’n’roll while rolling. Almost all rode a Harley Davidson and had some pin, flag or army memorabilia on their bike. When you stopped looking at bikes and people, the event itself became quite grandios - I had never seen the “POW/MIA” labels before, “Prisoner of War/Missing In Action”, and was moved by the commemoration of their lost friends; it wasn’t just yet another flag or pin.

Biggest. Ad. Ever.

The event attracted people from all over, including “normal” Washingtonians and tourists, who had lined up along the route to wave and take pictures for the hours and hours it took, for all of the bikes to drive by. They where still coming when we left 3 hours in.

While seeing Harley upon Harley drive by, it felt like being a part of the biggest real-life-ad video. Harley Davidson practically owned the day - all the gear sold were Harley’s and almost all of the bikes in the parade were Harley Davidsons. We only spotted a few other brands in the sea of roaring bikes (to Simon’s disappointment). A remarkable display of ownership and market share within a certain demographic.

Photoset

Rolling Thunder Part I