Prompt for PicFic Tuesday 5/28

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Happy Memorial Day to those who celebrate it and honor those who've made the ultimate sacrifice. Seems odd to be BBQ-ing on a solemn occasion but at the same time it's a celebration of life and family for which so many gave up their lives to preserve our freedoms.  Thank a soldier today if you meet one, and say a prayer for those who are no longer with us.

Here's the prompt for tomorrow's challenge posting. I won't repeat the rules of the challenge, as I think most of you who like to participate, get them at this point.

Happy writing and we look forward to reading your fics.

On a side note, if you feel unable or uncomfortable to leave a comment on a fic you've read, just the word 'Kudos" would suffice. It's a simple way to show support to a writer. Comments and feedback are very much appreciated, but if you can't, no worries.

So without further adieu...

                           

"In memory of the fallen..."

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Memorial Day, a day to remember and honor the dead, the war heroes who sacrificed their lives to preserve freedom around the world.

Napoleon made his nearly annual trek to Arlington National Cemetery to visit the grave of his war buddy and best friend, ‘Scotty’ Bob McKenna, with whom he served during the Korean War. This time his partner the Russian, Kuryakin, took the drive with him.

The blond left Napoleon to his privacy to visit the grave of his old friend and to place a wreath of flowers in front of the plain white tombstone.

Illya wandered past row upon row of dead, looking at their names and the dates they died.  Veterans of so many different wars all neatly put to rest in a beautiful spot that felt so peaceful... a fitting tribute.

Impressed by the simplicity of the place, the uniformity and the fact that  one war was not placed in significance over another; Illya thought about his own country that had nothing really like it.

There were other monuments scattered about for those of importance, as well as an amphitheatre with it’s trellis’ covered in roses, and gently trickling fountains. It was an amazingly serene setting for so many who had met their end so violently.

He spotted small tokens left by so many graves, all marked by small American flags that fluttered in the breeze. Toys, letters, photographs and messages of love were everywhere. Signs that some were not forgotten, yet he noted there were few visitors.

There was an anti-war sentiment blanketing this country, but he saw no reason why that belief should dismiss the dead.

Illya looked up from one of the headstones, hearing the silence broken by the rhythmic clip-clopping of hooves. He watched as seven graceful, yet powerful horses passed by along the road. Astride four of them were uniformed soldiers mounted straight and tall.

The magnificent white horses seemed to sense the solemnity of their task, drawing a flag-draped casket upon a black casson along the sunlit lane to its place of rest among the fallen.

So many words came to the Russians mind, among them, dignity and sadness...

In Soviet Union, there existed the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow, to him a cold place... where burials had begun back in 1917,  with pro-Bolshevik victims of the October Revolution, and there they were buried in mass graves on Red Square.

After the last mass burial made in 1921, funerals on Krasnaya ploshchad' were usually conducted as state ceremonies and reserved as the last honor only for the notable politicians, military leaders, cosmonauts and scientists.

Burials in the ground were eventually halted, with funerals rituals now conducted as interment of cremated ash in the Kremlin wall itself. Actual burials in the ground only resumed again with the great Mikhail Kalinins funeral in 1946.

Still it was reserved for Soviet heroes, and not the everyday man, the soldiers fought and died in the field.

There were of course the mass graves such as Katyn, but they were Stalinist killing fields; nothing like this Arlington...a place to bury and honor the fallen.

Illya quietly walked up behind Napoleon, his eyes filled with marvel at such respect for the ‘masses,’ as it did not happen like this in his own country. He was about to say something when the American turned to him.

“Hey, tovarisch...you and Scotty Bob, my two best friends by my side at last.  I wish you could have known him,” he sighed. “I think you would have liked each other.  You’re both my brothers you know.”

“Thank you, lmy friend,” Illya bowed his head slightly,” I am honored to be in such great company.”

.

* ref Brothers Old and New http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7316278/1/Brothers-Old-and-New

Seoul Survivors http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7371168/1/Seoul-Survivors

and In Memoriam http://section7mfu.livejournal.com/321990.htm

A Memorial Day Conversation, A Double Drabble

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

“Is it appropriate, Napoleon, to say ‘Happy Memorial Day?’ This is a day of remembrance and solemnity, is it not?”

“It is, but we also have cookouts, fun and fireworks to celebrate. Many American soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice and many more stand ready to do the same if need be to ensure our continued ability to enjoy our lives and freedom. Here, have a hotdog.”

“Is that why you requested June third be designated UNCLE Memorial Day?”

“Yes, it was approved at the last Summit meeting. UNCLE agents are unsung heroes; we should as an organization remember our own in a uniform manner. It seemed odd to me that each HQ would remember its lost agents on different days and by doing different things. The Number Ones have standardized what form the memorial services will take. Each HQ contributed a part: A moment of silence, the reading of agents’ names lost in the previous year, a speech by the Number One and CEA of the office followed by a luncheon attended by all the available Section IIs and IIIs.”

“That was a wonderful suggestion, Napoleon, I am glad that resolution passed. Is the barbecued chicken ready?”

“Yes, Bottomless Pit.”

"In Memoriam"

[mlaw]

Napoleon had the rare occasion to be in Washington on Memorial Day, and wandering row upon row of white headstones in Arlington National Cemetery gave him pause.

“So many,” he shook his head watching a couple walk past him carrying flowers and a small American flag. “And too few remembering."

There were constant protests against American presence in Vietnam. He too wasn’t sure about the U.S. being there, but to mistreat those who were willing to sacrifice themselves for others, tormenting those left behind, was just wrong.

He found his friend Scotty Bob’s grave and knelt.*

“Hey buddy, I haven’t forgotten you...”

__________________________________

* ref “Seoul Survivors” http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7371168/1/Seoul_Survivors and “Brothers Old and New” http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7316278/1/Brothers_Old_and_New 

"In memory of the fallen"

[mlaw]

 

Memorial Day, a day to remember and honor the dead, the war heroes who sacrificed their lives to preserve freedom around the world.

Napoleon made his nearly annual trek to Arlington National Cemetery to visit the grave of his war buddy and best friend, ‘Scotty’ Bob McKenna, with whom he served during the Korean War. This time his partner the Russian, Kuryakin, took the drive with him.

The blond left Napoleon to his privacy to visit the grave of his old friend and to place a wreath of flowers in front of the plain white tombstone.

Illya wandered past row upon row of dead, looking at their names and the dates they died.  Veterans of so many different wars all neatly put to rest in a beautiful spot that felt so peaceful... a fitting tribute.

Impressed by the simplicity of the place, the uniformity and the fact that  one war was not placed in significance over another; Illya thought about his own country that had nothing really like it.

There were other monuments scattered about for those of importance, as well as an amphitheatre with it’s trellis’ covered in roses, and gently trickling fountains. It was an amazingly serene setting for so many who had met their end so violently.

He spotted small tokens left by so many graves, all marked by small American flags that fluttered in the breeze. Toys, letters, photographs and messages of love were everywhere. Signs that some were not forgotten, yet he noted there were few visitors.

There was an anti-war sentiment blanketing this country, but he saw no reason why that belief should dismiss the dead.

Illya looked up from one of the headstones, hearing the silence broken by the rhythmic clip-clopping of hooves. He watched as seven graceful, yet powerful horses passed by along the road. Astride four of them were uniformed soldiers mounted straight and tall.

The magnificent white horses seemed to sense the solemnity of their task, drawing a flag-draped casket upon a black casson along the sunlit lane to its place of rest among the fallen.

So many words came to the Russians mind, among them, dignity and sadness...

In Soviet Union, there existed the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow, to him a cold place... where burials had begun back in 1917,  with pro-Bolshevik victims of the October Revolution, and there they were buried in mass graves on Red Square.

After the last mass burial made in 1921, funerals on Krasnaya ploshchad' were usually conducted as state ceremonies and reserved as the last honor only for the notable politicians, military leaders, cosmonauts and scientists.

Burials in the ground were eventually halted, with funerals rituals now conducted as interment of cremated ash in the Kremlin wall itself. Actual burials in the ground only resumed again with the great Mikhail Kalinins funeral in 1946.

Still it was reserved for Soviet heroes, and not the everyday man, the soldiers fought and died in the field.

There were of course the mass graves such as Katyn, but they were Stalinist killing fields; nothing like this Arlington...a place to bury and honor the fallen.

Illya quietly walked up behind Napoleon, his eyes filled with marvel at such respect for the ‘masses,’ as it did not happen like this in his own country. He was about to say something when the American turned to him.

“Hey, tovarisch...you and Scotty Bob, my two best friends by my side at last.  I wish you could have known him,” he sighed. “I think you would have liked each other.  You’re both my brothers you know.”

“Thank you, lmy friend,” Illya bowed his head slightly,” I am honored to be in such great company.”

.

 

* ref Brothers Old and New http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7316278/1/Brothers-Old-and-New

Seoul Survivors http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7371168/1/Seoul-Survivors

and In Memoriam http://section7mfu.livejournal.com/321990.htm