Memorial Day

Yesterday was Memorial Day. It was odd to be overseas on such a patriotic occasion. We went to the U.S. War Memorial and cemetery in Florence for a special service that was being held there. There are close to 4,000 WW 2 soldiers buried here, both identified and unidentified. When you walk into the cemetery, there are rows upon rows of white crosses and stars of David, according to the deceased's faith. At the back of the cemetery, is a wall with the names of the men who lost there lives fighting in Italy. The service was very cool in that it was conducted in both English and Italian. At the end of the service, both the Italian and American national anthem was played. One thing that was slightly unnerving was how irreverent some of the Italians were. They talked through the whole service! Nevertheless, it was a special Memorial Day.