Memorial Day

Memorial Day - Images by Andrew Foulk





Today I covered the Lake Elsinore cemetery Memorial Day service, this is my 3rd time covering this particular service, and I have to say it was the best so far. I will always feel a special place in my heart for this day and this event, because three years ago when I covered it for the first time for a weekly paper, my grandfather passed away.

It actually happened the fallowing day as I was writing my captions, and I will never forget which one it was! It was of a honor guard group doing a twenty one gun salute, just as I was writing down their information my aunt came into my office and said, with a broken voice "he's gone". My grandfather had never been in active combat but he spent two years on what he lovingly referred to as "the rock" (Hawaii) during his Army service. He spent three long years battling health problems, never backing down, never giving up, until he just had nothing left in him for the fight. I feel that in someway his passing at this time of year was very fitting for a man who spent his entire life in service to his family, his country, and his beloved fire department ( he was also a 30 year veteran of the Camp Pendleton Fire Dept) without ever thinking of himself first.

Thanks again, for everything you did for me grandpa!