Tag: ceremony

D-Day Anniversary

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

On June 6th, we observed the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the D-Day invasion, in which Allied Forces landed in France, beginning the campaign that ended World War II in Europe.

President Biden spoke at a ceremony honoring the anniversary and the United States veterans of D-Day, now all in their upper 90s or centenarians, held at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Earlier in the ceremony, after his address, French president Emmanuel Macron, had presented each veteran with a commendation with President Biden by his side.

I appreciated President Biden’s address, which recalled individual stories of that day while lifting up the democratic principles for which the war was fought. Biden spoke about NATO and the commitment to international alliances to protect and defend freedom and democracy. He also spoke about the bravery of Ukraine in defending their democracy against the invasion by Russia. He called on the current people of the United States to defend our democracy today.

After Biden spoke, a service member read “The Watch” symbolically relieving the honored veterans and all World War II veterans of duty.

And I started crying.

I was thinking of my father, known here as Paco, who was a World War II veteran who passed away two years ago at the age of 96. Paco served as a Navy SeaBee in the Pacific. Seeing the veterans in attendance and hearing these tributes to them made me miss him so much more.

He didn’t speak very often of his service in his younger years and, with so many veterans of his age, it wasn’t much noted as the majority had been in the service. In his retirement years, though, he often wore a SeaBees or Navy veteran cap and it was sweet to see store clerks or random passersby thank him for his service.

He would have loved today’s ceremony.

He might have cried, too.

Lantern Floating Ceremony in Honolulu

My daughter attended this year’s ceremony. The combining/adaptation/re-interpretation of cultural elements doesn’t surprise me as it happens so frequently in Hawai’i. Thanks to Within the K Streets for this post and to Rowena of beyondtheflow, whose reblog brought me here.
JC

Reiko's Journey's avatarWITHIN THE K STREETS

“I’m not coming out until you promise not to float me.”

Since 1999, an esoteric Buddhist denomination called Shinnyo-en has sponsored a “Lantern Floating” ceremony on Memorial Day to create a moment of reflection and collective compassion and remember those who have passed.

The name “Shinnyo-en” means “a borderless garden of the unchanging and real nature of things,” and its principal doctrine encourages everyone to develop the ability to act with unwavering loving kindness and compassion. That’s a pretty good thing, methinks.

Lantern close upThe original Lantern Floating was a modest affair, held in a lagoon out near Honolulu Airport but grew in popularity and since 2002 it has been held annually at Ala Moana Beach Park, the major regional park adjacent to Waikiki.

How popular is it? About 40,000 people attend the ceremony. Folks stake out their positions on the lawn areas 24 hours in advance and guard their position…

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