Florida National Cemetery
 

It is very humbling to walk amoungst the countless resting places of soldiers. The quiet, the names, the dates, the wars -- I'd only turned off the road to drive through and see what it was like, but found myself transfixed by the endless sea of white markers and had to walk around. This is Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.

http://fox.org/~vince/photos/out/fnc.jpg

There were many visitors there, quietly paying their respects to family members and fathers, friends and relatives. In the distance, a shining, moving object caught my eye. Approaching, I never thought that in such a sacred place I would see something that would break the solemn air and make me smile, but I did.

http://fox.org/~vince/photos/out/beer.jpg

PFC Richard Ray Nelson, I'll be sure to have a cold one for you.

Yes, yes, yes! Celebrate his life, not his death. :beer:

great post, thank you. the one with the beer reminds me of my friend's funeral just before i left active duty. we had the obligatory memorial on base, but it kind of surprised us that all of the senior leadership followed us to the cemetary. they weren't real thrilled with what they saw and tried to stop it, but the my friend's widow stood her ground and we continued. we covered his urn with stickers from all of his favorite bands and sports teams and as they buried the urn we all stood around and got pretty well lit on maker's mark, which happened to be his favorite beverage.
celebrate the life, not the death.