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The American Rose Center invites the public to attend a NATIONAL SALUTE commemorating Veterans Day at the Gardens.
Guests will gather at for a briefing and solemn walk to the David & Sandy Long ‘Never Forget’ Garden, with ceremonies following.
Veterans Day is unique this year. The year 2021 marks the 100th Anniversary of the year and the day our Unknown Soldier was returned home to American shores, three years after victory was declared in World War I and the Armistice was signed.
Not only will our NATIONAL SALUTE commemorating Veterans of all wars and armed conflicts, and all who are serving now, but also America’s Unknown Soldier who stands in for all who were lost and never made it home.
One hundred years ago, four unnamed American soldiers were exhumed from cemeteries in France where they had been buried.
Their caskets were brought to the town hall in Chalon-Champagne where one lone soldier was handed a bouquet of white roses and ordered to place it on one of the caskets, thereby designating the soldier who would forever be honored as America’s Unknown Soldier.
At the conclusion of ceremonies, a great procession of American and French military and civilians, including French children bearing white rose bouquets, escorted the casket to the waiting ship, the USS Olympia.
The 11-day journey proved to be a treacherous one for the “great white lady”, whose only mission was to return the Unknown Soldier home to America.
The ship collided with a waning Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic producing waves of such magnitude there was danger the aging ship might not make it home with its precious cargo.
The young Marine who was assigned with his 38-man company to escort the ship to France and back to America was Lieutenant Colonel Graves Blanchard Erskine, born and raised in Columbia, Louisiana.
After graduating high school at the top of his class at age 15, and graduating LSU at age 17, Graves Erskine joined the Marine Corps and saw his first duty in the fields of France in World War I.
Erskine went on to serve in World War II, commanding the 3rd Marine Division at Iwo Jima and Guam and in other battlefronts.
His illustrious military career earned him the ranking of FOUR-STAR GENERAL before he retired from active duty.
Therefore, in this YEAR OF THE CENTENNIAL OF THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER, we have cause to celebrate our own Louisiana home-town hero – the much-awarded GENERAL GRAVES BLANCHARD ERSKINE, not only for his distinguished service as one of America’s finest, but also for his role in bringing America’s Unknown Soldier home to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.
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 **First Lesson FREE With Paid Registration & Code MACKID** |
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