Memorial Day Service at Greenwood Cemetery 2012

Today is the actual date of Memorial Day before it was moved to accommodate a three day weekend.  This morning the Louisiana Disabled Veterans and the Louisiana Disabled Veterans held a memorial service in historic Greenwood Cemetery in Shreveport - except the DAV cancelled the service because of what looked to be bad weather moving in.  Nobody told the LDV or the spectators present though, so we forged ahead and had the ceremony anyway.

No tent, no chairs, no programs, no podium or microphone was needed to honor the fallen today.  

Someone was recruited to give the prayer and the service was underway.  Parkway High School's AFJROTC was in attendance to post the colors:

and these two young ladies did a spectacular job singing the national anthem:

They sang a cappella and their clear, sweet voices brought a tear to my eye, I must admit.  It was beautiful.  

The DAR ladies were there:

There was a brief speech and then the traditional laying of the wreaths:

The Sons of the Confederacy did a three shot volley:

And a lone bugler played the mournful Taps from beside the cannon:

There were about as many photographers present as there were spectators and I'm sure that was due somewhat to the confusion around the supposed cancellation of the service.  I suspect, also, that many people who normally attend this ceremony were back at work today.  

Here is the post from the 2010 ceremony, and the 2011.

Kudos to all the participants today for forging ahead and conducting a lovely service despite miscommunication and mix-ups.  

The Shreveport Times has a photo gallery (much better photos than mine!) here.