Many of my 4th and 5th great uncles died while serving in the Confederacy. This is difficult because I vehemently oppose the Confederacy’s ideals and what they were fighting for. I condemn their way of life and how they built their economy on the backs of enslaved people. I abhor their plan to rebel against my beloved country to continue their practice of treating people as property and ripping their families apart for financial gain. I am glad the Confederacy lost and I would have fought for the Union if I could go back in time. So, I found myself...
For family history storytime this week we read The Wall by Eve Bunting and did two crafts to remember relatives who fought for our country and gave the ultimate sacrifice. Poppies First, we made poppy flowers. I found a Canadian book telling about the poppy flower and how it has come to be a memorial to fallen soldiers. Poppies were first used to remember soldiers after WWI. They grow in fields that have recently been plowed or disturbed in some way, and were noticed to grow in the spring of 1915. John McCrae, a Canadian doctor, wrote about the poppies blowing amidst the...
For our Kid's Book club this month, we are reading The Wall by Eve Bunting. As a history teacher, I loved talking with my students about the origination and history behind the holidays we celebrate. Although for many of us, Memorial Day is just a day off and a time for vacationing, it can be a valuable tool for teaching children to honor and remember those who died in our country's service. I'm still planning exactly how we'll celebrate, but one of my favorite activities was participating in the Honor Roll project. Our family visited the war memorials in Tucson and transcribed the...
How much do you know about the military service of your family members? Do you wonder about the events that shaped their lives? How can you honor their sacrifice? In the next few weeks we have several opportunities to consider their part in preserving our country's freedom: Memorial Day, Flag Day, and Independence Day. Like most World War II veterans, my dad didn't talk much of his war experiences. When he passed away five years ago, all that remained of his military service were his sailor pants, some photos, his discharge papers, and a couple of paragraphs in his personal history outlining...
When Heather Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy posted about contributing to the Honor Roll Project earlier this month, I knew it would be the perfect way for our family to celebrate Memorial Day this year. Heather started the project in 2010. Now every Memorial Day and Veterans Day she encourages people to photograph and transcribe war memorials in their area to contribute to The Honor Roll Project website. Publishing the transcriptions of names from the honor rolls online make it possible for family and friends of veterans to find them and learn of their military service. We went to Armory Park (formerly known as...
Memorial Day is coming up. Although the purpose of Memorial Day is honoring those who have died in the service of our country, many Americans visit memorials and cemeteries on Memorial Day for other ancestors too. Last year I received this email from FamilySearch.org before Memorial Day: You can sign in to the FamilySearch Memorial Page and see your ancestors' headstones plotted on a map (at least those that are connected to BillionGraves.com). After receiving this email, we were inspired to find out if any of our ancestors were buried nearby. We found that my husband had ancestors buried in both Safford and Taylor, Arizona....
