For Memorial Day: Great poems about soldiers, war
Memorial Day commemorations ordinarily involve parades, concerts, barbecues, sporting events and a lot of flag-waving. Here's a more introspective way to commemorate the national holiday: Read some poetry about war.
World War II veteran Jesse R. Turner embraces Helen Marie Misel at a display of over more than 1,700 United States flags in Shawnee, Kan. (Orlin Wagner/AP)Memorial Day is a federal holiday to honor all Americans who have died fighting the country’s wars while serving in the U.S. armed forces. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the first official observance was on May 28, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. By the 20th century, the holiday was extended to all soldiers who had fallen in all American wars.
Here are several of the greatest poems about soldiers and war that