It has been nearly five years since I honored here two family members who gave the "last full measure of devotion" in France during World War I: Harry Gilbert Faulk and Hezekiah Scovil Porter, both of the 101st Machine Gun Battalion. Today, for Harry I post a picture of the tree planted in his memory in Cypress Cemetery, Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It has been a few years since World War I.
For Hez, these pages from Yale in the World War (George Henry Nettleton, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1925).
Here's another Memorial Day thought from Patrick Deneen, who reminds us that while politicians may send soldiers into battle for ideas and ideals, the soldiers themselves fight for something much more personal.
No soldier dies for a theory. He dies on behalf of the people with whom he enters battle, seeking to save those whom he loves, to whom he feels a strong sense of duty, and for whom he is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Today, on this day of remembrance, we should recall not only the lives and deaths of the soldiers whom we rightly honor, but the right and proper grounds for their sacrifice, and keep in mind those reasons as we seek to defend, in our own less demanding ways, a nation of particular places, particular people, and particular memories.
Wow. It was really neat to read that memorial of Hezekiah. I think one of the most important things about learning history is to personalize it. Even this relative I knew about wasn't really brought to life for me until today. I always thought of him as an old uncle - he is my some-great-uncle after all. But here I read he died at the age I got married!
Harry Gilbert Faulk was my great-uncle. I often heard my grandfather Edward and my father, Donald, speak of him. But, as the post above indicates, knew little of him. I'm now 65 yrs old and am beginning to search out my ancestors. What a beautiful tree. May he be long remembered in Old Saybrook.
Much as I hate to do so, because I want to be able to get comments like Dave's, I'm cutting off comments to this post. It has become an absolute spam magnet. Legitimate commenters, please contact us at this address and I will publish your comment, if you'd like.
Dave, how wonderful to hear from you. You would be my husband's second cousin. If you'll contact me at this address, I'd love to exchange genealogical data.
