June's Challenge - Remembrance, Honouring, Celebrating

[MizBrown]

I'm just posting this one.   It touched me because while Tomas Borge is one of three FSLN founding heros interred at this memorial (Carlos Fonseca and Santos Lopez are the others), his grave had a wreath from his last wife and three children.  A reminder that these are human beings with families, not just heros or monsters (Borge has people on both sides of that one).   Wikipedia was helpful in identifying the names on the wreath.

 

[Marianne]

Excellent choice. It's really a great topic for what we aim to do with our images, convey that emotion. 

 

Your examples reminded me of seeing the rows of crosses and the occasional Stars of David at Normandy on a 3-week trip I took to France, back in 1989. My Great-Uncle Bill, who survived being shot twice in World War II, and who was later a POW, was supposed to land on the beach in Normandy on D-Day with the men under his command, but my aunt almost died in childbirth, so he was kept back and instead ended up in the Japanese theater. All his men died there, and it haunted him, so seeing those rows of graves, so far from home, and knowing his personal connection to some of those buried there, made it even more poignant, as did the fact that my friend Sonja, with whom I was traveling, had lost relatives in the camps. It really brought the enormity of the war home in a very tangible way. Seeing those rows upon rows of graves was more powerful to me than any of the many stories I had heard. A picture, even if it is in our heads rather than one we've taken, can really bring it home to us

 

So many powerful images here.

[Marianne]

This one has a personal connection, as my husband and I frequent the dry cleaners run by the deceased soldier's parents and surviving brother - Even though the intent of the photo was to honor her, her son, and her family, I felt almost like a voyeur taking this photo on assignment as the pain in her eyes was palpable.

Gold star mother Soon Chay whose son, Army SSgt Kyu Hyuk Chay was killed in Afghanistan, being comforted by Hillary Clinton during a Memorial Day celebration in which a bridge in the town was named after her son. SSgt Kyu Hyuk Chay, an army cryptographer who survived his first tour of duty in Iraq, was born in South Korea and emigrated to the US with his parents in the 1980s.  The SSgt's father and surviving brother stand just behind. 

- Image ID: EMXW9N

 

 

Since this choice obviously really got me thinking, I'll just that add that the young naval officer in white to the left played soccer with my daughter back when they were both 5-year-olds, and they graduated from high school together. Both of these are kids (the boy who died and the young officer pictured) who could have easily just gone on to college and lived a privileged upper middle class existence, but they chose to join the armed services. I'm just glad that today, unlike the Viet Nam era during which I grew up, even those of us who are against the war feel an intense pride in those who have chosen to serve, rather than casting aspersions on the kids who were drafted and lived through war's horrors. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we lived in a world where there was no need for any of this? 

[Marianne]

My daughter and I visited Gettysburg on a spur of the moment detour as we were driving home to NY after visiting schools in the midwest. Until I got there, I hadn't really thought about the fact that it is a memorial to both sides, the North and the South. It was eerie to think we were walking along where Lincoln had given his famous speech, and on ground where so many lost their lives. It was similar to how I felt walking through the Roman Forum and thinking Julius Caesar had walked there. We Yanks have such a short history. 

 

Monument to the Civil War Veterans of the 111th New York Infantry, Gettysburg National Military Park Gettysburg Pennsylvania USA

 

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by Marianne

[Marianne]

A couple, including a woman in a hijab, view the Maryland 9/11 Memorial in Baltimore, Maryland:

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by Marianne

[Eden]

Three from me

 

Berlin-Grunewald station.Deutsche Bahn Gleis 17 (Platform 17)

Memorial for 50 000 Jews departed to extermination camps from  this platform (1941 to 1945)

 

 

UK, London, Twickenham, Radnor Gardens, 4th August, 2014. A lone piper approaches the War memorial during a vigil to commemorate the declaration of war on 4th August 1914.

 

 

President Nelson Mandela - Photograph of Madiba in the Times newspaper and roses at a shrine for an iconic leader - London

 

[Becky Boy]

Here is my effort. RAF memorial spitfire flypast. 

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[spacecadet]

6 hours ago, Becky Boy said:

Here is my effort. RAF memorial spitfire flypast. 

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That deserves to be a bit bigger. Hope you don't mind.

[Becky Boy]

Ahh thank you Spacecadet. I tried always to make it bigger...followed what I read about posting images eg. clicking on an enlarged image and drag and drop but kept going in small. Even had trouble with a URL link..

 

Thanks again.

[aphperspective]

 

Burial site of over 9000 victims collected who were buried without a coffin on this site during the great famine in Ireland. Its a very powerful poem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Russell]

I feel that these children, one wearing a relative's medals have a story to tell ...

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Russell
Typo

[NYCat]

 

Lonely grave of a Frenchman who committed suicide in 1929 on Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands.

 

 

 

Flowers on a Russian Orthodox Cross in the Graveyard of Holy Transfiguration of our Lord Church, Ninilchik, Alaska

 

 

National September 11 Memorial showing names on the parapet surrounding the pool and the Museum in the background.

 

Paulette

[Avpics]

My apologies for being quiet on this thread. Time away, and catching up from time away have kept me very busy. Many of these images are extremely thought provoking and powerful, and worth spending proper time on selecting those for the voting. Thank you all for sharing