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Week 22′s theme was “Memorial Day” Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars, more recently it has become customary to honor all those who have died and a day to visit and decorate their graves. It is also the unofficial start to Summer, while Labor Day marks the unofficial end of Summer.
I decided to try and honor our fallen heroes in my image for this weeks theme so I made a visit to our local cemetery, then to our city’s Veterans Memorial, but neither one had the impact I was after so I drove to the foothills east of downtown Salt Lake City to visit the Salt Lake City Cemetery, arguably one of the prettiest cemeteries around, there they have a Veterans Memorial that has the visual impact I was looking for.
It wasn’t always that way however, up until 2007 the memorial was actually in pretty bad shape as many of the headstones had broken, were tilting, or sinking into the ground. Fortunately Utah has true patriots that value the sacrifice our servicemen and women have given over the years and not wanting to wait for bureaucracies to figure it all out (read – pay for a fix) went ahead and donated their time and material to fix the problem A big thanks to Onyx Construction for the great work they did.
I hope I captured the feeling of the place, it was a gloriously beautiful mid week morning (I decided to go a few days after Memorial Day to avoid the crowds and not upset anyone who might be offended I was taking pictures) As the son of a veteran and friend to many more I have a deep feeling of respect and love for those who serve our country and tried to show that in my images, I hope you feel it as well.
