The Cleaners.net - "Pressing News" It's Not just another Holiday

Memorial Day is a holiday we look forward to each year. It kicks off the summer and gives us a chance to take a breath before plunging into enjoying ourselves.

But Memorial Day is far more than a holiday. It was created at the end of the Civil War, in 1865, to remember and honor those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

When was the last time you were moved by Memorial Day? The men and women who fought for freedom on distant shores, at sea, in trenches, and from the air were real people with real lives. Memories of those harrowing days live on through the stories of valor and heroism that have been captured in journals and diaries, on video and audio tapes, and in first-person accounts in myriad magazines and books.

This year, as you enjoy a break in your routine and a day off, take a moment and read some of their stories. Celebrate the meaning of Memorial Day, and don't forget to fly the flag. They died to give you that privilege.

Jim Nixon,
The Cleaners

His name was Paul Reed.

He went off to learn to fly when flight was still new. He went to serve his country in World War I, as did so many other young men. He was tall and gangly, and he was in love. But duty came first. His generation entered a war that was so horrific, it was called the War to End All Wars. Paul survived, but many did not. Thanks to their sacrifice, however, freedom lived on....

Long May She Wave

It doesn't have to be Memorial Day or the 4th of July. We are happy to clean your American Flag at no charge any time. We do this as a service to keep the flag flying high and proud. (No coupon required, no expiration date.)

The Memories Live On Forever.

Memories of war and heroism have existed as long as men have gone out to fight, as long as women have worked to save lives and support the troops. Thanks to the internet, a rich treasure trove of personal recollections are right at your fingertips, to make this Memorial Day a special and meaningful one.

Here is a sampling of some of those memories, with links to take you to the entire story, or to other valuable sites. Read the excerpt from the account, and think of the actual people who lived it, then click on the link to read more.

We salute all the men and women who have fought for the freedom of our country since its inception, and whose stories remind us how precious that freedom is.

American Revolution

From the diary of Ebenezer Denny, 1781

June 18th.- Joined the troops under command of Lafayette. The Marquis had marched two or three days to meet us. His men look as if they were fit for business. They are chiefly all light infantry, dressed in frocks and over-alls of linen. One day spent in washing and refreshing -- in fixing arms, carriages, &c., and served out ammunition. Move toward Richmond, where Lord Cornwallis with the British army lay....

Read more from this diary.

The Civil War

Letters of the Civil War, September 16, 1861.
Thirteenth Massachusetts

Point of rocks, Md., Sept.16. Yesterday, as six men of the Massachusetts 13th regiment were riding upon the tow-path, two miles above Harper's Ferry, they were fired upon by the rebels on the opposite side of the river, and one of them was killed. A considerable force of the rebels was posted behind the warehouse and other buildings. Capt. Schriber, of the Massachusetts 13th, directed the fire of a 12-pounder against the building, dispersing the rebels. It is supposed that five or six of them were killed.

Thomas Harper, who was wounded by the rebels last Thursday, is in a dying condition. (Roxbury City Gazette; September 19, 1861; pg. 2, col. 6.)

The Spanish American War

The Diary of John Henry Asendorfo:p>

The Story of a Pennsylvania Volunteer During the Philippine-American War (1898 - 1899)

July 25/98 Monday

it has raigned all night and most of us had to lay in 2 to 3 inch of Water all Night and good many of our "Dog tents" blow down during the night. in the morning most of us went out to get Bambo to make some king of a bed so we can Keep dry. as it raignes constantly our Camp is at present more fitt to bath in as to sleep it is a wonder to me that we are not all sick. we are expecting the 3 Expedition and the "Grape Vine" is worked to death as all of us are looking for Mail on the transports. we have 3 men on the Sick List Hum Rush and Landis.

World War I

Marine Flyer in France.
The Diary of Captain Alfred A. Cunningham
November 1917 -- January 1918

Sunday, November 18, 1917, Grand Hotel, Paris France

I got up at 10 o'clock and had breakfast in my room. I then got a taxi and drove to the American Embassy hoping to find a letter from my sweet little wife. Much to my disappointment the Embassy was closed. Will try again tomorrow. I walked around the streets in the afternoon. They are crowded with people, most of whom have uniforms on. There seems to be some of every army in the world here except Germany....

Sunday, December 2, 1917, Hotel de France, Pau, France

Got up late as today is a repose day at the Ecole and there will be no flying: Walked around with Rolph and met Capt. Levy from Avord. At 1:15 went out to the Ecole and found everything locked up except the hangars. Saw some captured German machines and all the wrecks which have happened in the last few days. Saw the machine in which young Fowler was killed day before yesterday. It was certainly a wreck and had blood all over the cockpit.... They kill here more than 1 pilot every day, which, when one thinks of it, is an enormous percentage. There must be some fault with their training methods.

Read more of this detailed diary.

Women at War

Not all the Yanks were men. For the first time in the history of the United States, thousands of women also would march off to war. They would be pioneers, traveling unknown paths, for the same reason men answered the call to the colors -- duty, honor, and love of country.

Soon after war was declared by Congress, one of the pioneers, young Mary Louise Bentley of Mauston, Wisconsin, joined up as an Army nurse and left for Fort Riley, Kansas. It had been a wrenching decision: She had never been far from her home and parents. Devout and dedicated, Mary Bentley had volunteered out of a sense of patriotism. But her motive had no impact on the gossips back in Mauston, where her father Michael was the chief of police. She was painted as a "camp follower" and a woman of loose morals. Otherwise why would she be chasing off to a place where there were thousands of soldiers?

In Mauston the tongue-waggers did not know that Nurse Bentley was toiling fourteen-hour shifts, seven days a week, or that she and other women were caring for hundreds of soldiers laid low by a deadly strain of influenza....

Read more about Nurse Bentley and other women in World War I.

World War II

And then the Sharks Came.

Like the time my ship, the USS Maddox, got sunk off the coast of Italy, back in '43.... We never even knew what hit us, all of a sudden there were the sirens going off and everybody running around like it was going to do any good and pulling on the life jackets and sliding down the side of the ship into the black water. Barnacles tore the hell out of our legs and we were bleeding like stuck pigs. And the smell of oil and salt water and fear and blood and smoke. Men calling, yelling, cursing. Then floating around and it got silent. And then the sharks came....

And then the rescue boats came and you tried to get there and still not move your legs and you pushed other men in front of you, just please God let us all get there, all of us. Joe and Mike and Red and Tony and Me, God. All of us, God. And you helped each other into the boat, and you cried from the sheer relief when you got in and looked at your legs and they were still there....

And afterwards we got ribbons and medals and they were slapping our backs and telling us how courageous we were. And then they sent us back to war....

Read the entire recollection, as told to by a veteran to his niece, Carolyn Agosta. (Reprinted here by kind permission.)

The Korean War

Heartbreak Ridge -- By Bob Wilson

For my contingent of green replacements, the call to duty came late in the evening of the third day of our arrival at the regimental Command Post. We were told to fall in, and every other man was instructed to pick up a stretcher....

By this time it was nearly full dark. We started up the narrow trail that followed a small mountain stream. The climb got steeper and more rocky as we went, and the darkness, which was now absolute, made progress with the stretchers awkward and very difficult. The column was moving too fast and the troops were falling over the rocks in the dark or slipping into the stream, all the while mumbling and grumbling about the officer that was leading us. Sometime about midnight, the column stopped as if for a break, but after several minutes I became uneasy. Then the word, passed from man to man back down the line, came to me that the column had been broken, and they wanted the ranking NCO to tell them what to do. It turned out that, as sergeant first class, I was the ranking NCO....