Monday, May 25, 2009

Memorial Day

Aloha Dear Friends,

It is that time of year again where we can pay tribute to our loved ones that have passed and to honor the ones that we have lost while serving their country.
There is a tradition over here that is called the Lantern Floating Ceremony that is held in Ala Moana Park.

It is a time honored Buddhist rite to comfort the spirits of the deceased and are said to ferry spirits "from the sea of delusion to the shores of salvation." You do not have to be Buddhist to go or even participate. It is one of the most beautiful cermonies I have ever had the honor to witness. You may purchase or obtain a floating lantern free and you are able to write a message to your loved ones on it and it will be released into the ocean at sunset.

You can watch this live by going onto www.kgmb.com and click on lantern floating and also watch a video from last year. The ceremony starts at 6:30 pm here so adjust your clocks to mainland time. Or you can go directly to www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com

For all the veterans that got to go to the Punch Bowl while here. You would be proud of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts today. They went to the 38,000 graves there and put a flag and lei on each and every grave and saluted every one. They were running out of leis and put out the message and quickly received 50,000 lei and they then were shared with the Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe. It was a little bit of a tear jerker today.

I hope you all enjoy the ceremony and take care until we meet again.

GH

5 comments:

Greybeard said...

Thanks for helping us to remember, GH. There are many wonderful ceremonies around the Nation today to honor those who gave it all so we could live without government thugs telling us how to live our lives. I only hope we have the intelligence to know when our elected representatives have overstepped, and the courage to do something about it when we realize they're out of control.

Pensacola has a waterfront park with several War Memorials, including a miniature version of the Viet Nam Wall. TwoDogs and I stopped there and tried to find the names of a couple friends I lost during my year in VN. I could not remember which panel their names were on, and trying to find their names among the 58,000 listed there without knowing exactly where to look was an impossibility.
58,000!
That number slaps you in the face when you look at that dark "V", but imagine what a list of names of WWII heroes would look like!

God Bless and be with the souls of all these great patriots.

TwoDogs said...

Aloha, GoldenGirl

Thank You for remembering the Veterans. All gave some,Some gave all. And Yes, the Punchbowl is a special place. Also enjoyed the linked video.

May God be with you and your family.

TwoDogs and Cinders

Anonymous said...

Hey GH!
Good to hear from you. I've been thinking about you lately and hoping all is well with you and yours.

You are behaving yourself as usual aren't you??? HA!

Love,
Bo

the golden horse said...

You are so welcome guys. I am glad you like the video. We have gone there before and I can't even begin to describe how it feels.
I love to watch the Taiko Drum masters. The lanterns themselves are amazing. To think we are able to send our love ones a message of love.

Hey, GB, we are getting the new Hawaii Sub here next month, look her up, she is amazing. We would love that tour.

TD, Thank you and Cinders so much for you love and loyalty. It matters more than you know. Ken and I are hanging in there.
I hope you and yours are okay. I always have a hard time thinking of our veterans and not get choked up. Especially when we drive through the sub base.


Bo, I try so hard to behave and most days I succeed, but then, the little girl comes out and it is all for naught. lol.
Just yesterday, while at the store, I saw some Jose Quervo on sale, a great deal for over here. I stood there and stared for a bit to comtemplate the buy, never knowing when we will get company, and then decided against it. Today I wake up with a hangover headache. I think they have my number from past years. Uh. TD????
Thank you for thinking of me Bo.

GH

Anonymous said...

GH,
Thanks for the post!
dj