May 29, 2023
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live.”
– Abraham Lincoln
Linda Lyons begins her day at the cemetery, walking among the tombstones, visiting deceased family members, friends and veterans, stopping at graves to tidy them up, remove litter and say a prayer.
Memorial Day is important to her. On her mother’s side of the family, someone has fought in every war from the American Revolution to the present day.
Linda will often trim around the veterans’ foot stones, and when she spots an American flag on the ground, she promptly uprights it because the flag is important to her. Over the years, she has bought quite a few of them to distribute.
She’s made it her personal mission to pay her respects at the graves of veterans at cemeteries in Stamford and Darien.
“These veterans are men and women from our community, and if they hadn’t gone to war, we wouldn’t have our freedom,” she says. “They sacrificed their lives for our country, and we owe them our respect. God always seems to tell me which graves to go to.”
Memorial Day honors all those who died in the military, serving our country. The holiday originated after the Civil War, when it was known as Decoration Day. In 1868, Gen. John Logan, the commander-in-chief of a fraternal organization of Northern Civil War veterans, campaigned to have a day set apart to commemorate those who died.
It was proclaimed a federal holiday in 1971 so that we can honor all those who have died, from the American Revolution to Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
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This Memorial Day, at a troubled time in our nation’s history, it’s worth remembering all those who have died … “that this nation might live.”