Whatever your plans are for this Memorial Day, odds are there will be thoughts of someone who served in the military. Formerly known as Decoration Day, today commemorates U.S. Service members who died while in the military service and is a reason for parades, shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks, trips to the beach, celebrations, picnics and more. Memorial Day is also a day when those who write blogs reflect on what the day means to them.

Princess Cruises blog, 50 Essential Experiences: The Travel Bucket List blog posts once a week and has taken us all over the world with personal accounts of travel from some of their longest-serving employees. The blog started with an account of President and CEO Alan Buckelew's service in Vietnam. Today, the blog returns to Buckelew with some further thoughts

"This Memorial Day weekend will take me to Washington, D.C. as my mother-in-law is laid to rest with her husband in Arlington Cemetery. While there, my family and I will have the honor of visiting the Vietnam Memorial and observing the Rolling Thunder "Ride to the Wall," a motorcycle ride to support POW/MIAs."

Buckelew goes on to tell us about half-scale traveling version of the Vietnam Memorial called The Wall That Heals and about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund's Call for Photos, a campaign to collect a photograph for each of the more than 58,000 men and women whose names are inscribed on The Wall.

"The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is working to gather all 58,272 photos of those with names etched into the memorial to make sure no face is ever forgotten – nearly 19,000 have been collected so far."

Another blog with Memorial Day content/wishes is The Word, All Entertainment, All The Time where you can vote for your favorite of the 10 greatest war movies ever made or listen to 20 Songs To Celebrate Memorial Day.

Flickr photo by paul-simpson.org