Our Memorial Day Tribute

    Memorial Day, as you probably know, is an American holiday to remember our members of our military who have given their lives fighting for our freedom.  It was first celebrated three years after the end of the Civil War.  It was originally called Decoration Day and the intent was for the graves of our fallen soldiers to be decorated with flowers.  It was supposed to be held on May 30^th, but in the American way, we changed to it to the last Monday of May.  It’s how we get to have a three-day weekend.  The boys heard me talking about the holiday.  Of course, they had a lot of ideas for today’s post.

Me: “Boys, today is Memorial Day.  Do you know what that means?”

Bentley: “I’m hoping it means Dad is gonna barbecue.  I love the smell of grilling meats.  Oh no, are there gonna be fireworks?  Not much takes the joy out of my holiday like explosives.”

Pierre: “I hope that it means we get presents and a cake!”

Me: “Well then, I have good news and bad news.  Yes, Dad is grilling burgers for us.  He is making special chicken breast for the two of you.  Bentley, you can relax there are no fireworks.  Sorry Pierre, but there are no gifts or cake either, it's not that type of celebration.  We should do something special for our blog photo, maybe something historic to represent Memorial Day.  Y’all have any ideas?”

Bentley: “Hey, let’s re-enact the Civil War.  Do we have any cannons?  This is gonna be cool!”

Me: “Uh, no.”

Pierre: “Let’s do something where we get to ride horses.  I have always felt that I’d look dashing atop a mighty steed.  There are a lot of statues of our military greats on horseback.”

Me: “I’m sure that you’d make a striking profile, but we don’t have any horses either.  We have to work with what we have on hand.  Hmmm…”

Bentley: “I’ve got it!  We can go to the Air Force base and ask them if they’ll let us fly one of their B-52’s.  It should be fine, because I’ve seen Top Gun.  Do we have any goggles and a leather bomber jacket I can wear?”

Me: “I’m thinking they might have a problem with letting you two up in a bomber, even if you did learn everything about flying from Tom Cruise.”

Bentley: “I could always do that V-J Day photo where the sailor kisses a pretty girl in Times Square.  Can we fly to New York and make that happen?”

Me: “Again, Bentley we have to work with what we have here at the house.  There just isn’t time to fly to New York for a photo opportunity.  Keep thinking.”

Pierre: “Okay, follow me with this vision.  We go down to the bayou, smear dirt on our face, get some weapons, and pretend to play war.  I really should have checked with my daddy, because he is in the Army.  He could have given us some ideas and maybe I could have worn his military boots.  I’d look tough in those.”

Me: “I really don’t want you two in the bayou rubbing mud all over yourselves.  Look, Dad is hanging out the American flag.  Isn’t it beautiful?”

Bentley: “I’ve got it!!  Let’s recreate the flag being raised at Iwo Jima.  I’ve seen a movie about that too!  You know, it was an epic battle that lasted five-weeks during the War in the Pacific of World War II.  A fellow named Joe Rosenthal took a photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of Mount Suribachi.  Of course, the original shot shows five U.S. marines, and one U.S. Navy battlefield Hospital Corpsman.  Pierre and I can pull off a great historical tribute.  After all, we already have a flag, so we just need a mountain.”

Me: “Now, that’s an idea that could work!  Let’s talk to Daddy about using the flag and see if we can do this!”

Barking from the Bayou proudly presents our commemorative re-enactment of the iconic photo

“The Raising of the U.S. Flag on Iwo Jima.”

Featuring Bentley & Pierre

Amid all of the fun and excitement of this holiday, please take a moment to remember the brave military men, women, and dogs that have sacrificed their lives, so we can enjoy our freedoms.

*Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win K9 Kelp Shampoo and Conditioning Spritz!  (8 oz. bottles)  There is even some Kelp Lip Balm for you!  Read our review.

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I want to give a special thanks to Lisa from Dogs N’ Pawz for featuring both The Returns and The Returns 2 ~ Showstoppers over the weekend.  You can read her reviews by clicking on the titles.

This is Mischief Monday Blog Hop hosted by My Brown Newfies, Alfie’s Blog, and Snoopy’s Dog Blog.  Enjoy these other mischievous posts below.