Monthly Archives: May 2021

May 31, 2021 · 11:40 am

Putting “Memorial” into Memorial Day

I have over the years and during my many travels paid respects to my fellow veterans who have fallen in service to our nation. As such I thought it appropriate today to remind people what the word “Memorial” in “Memorial Day” means by reposting images from past articles.

Gun turret No. 3, U.S.S. Arizona, Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i

National Cemetery of the Pacific “Punchbowl”, O’ahu, Hawai’i

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i

Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Normandy, France

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Filed under Opinion Piece, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel

Tagged as Memorial Day, National Cemetery of the Pacific, Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Pearl Harbor, photography, Punchbowl Cemetery, R. Doug Wicker, travel, U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

May 31, 2021 · 5:35 am

Northern Ireland — Belfast Street Art

In the photo above you’ll see the Irish Celtic phrase “Céad bliain,” which translates to “100 years.” And below that is “Ní Saoirse go Saoirse na mban”, meaning “There is no freedom until the freedom of women.” As with much of the street art adorning Belfast, this one is political.

But most of the political commentary deals with “The Troubles“, that 30-year rebellion that tore apart Northern Ireland from the late 1960s until 1998. The scars of this conflict remain today, such as the “peace line” wall that separated Republican and Catholic Nationalist neighborhoods within the city.

This next piece of street art commemorates British MP Bobby Sands, who died in prison while on a hunger strike:

Another piece of art is dedicated to children who lost their lives during the conflict:

This last image celebrates the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force. In it you’ll see various rifles ranging from a Kalashnikov, to a .30 M1 Carbine, to what appears to be an AR-style rifle, and even a Thompson M1928 submachine gun: