Two graves at Arlington

I’ve posted these photos (of graves at Arlington National Cemetery) before. But since today is Memorial Day here in the US, and since the behavior depicted in the post below (not to mention the many nasty and bigoted comments) is so disheartening, I’m posting them again.

When I first posted about Ayman Taha in 2006, a commenter called Mohamed, who knew him, wrote in response to a handful of mean-spirited comments:

In as simple a term as I can summarize, Ayman was just a good person doing something he thought was meaningful.

And another commenter, TBradford55, wrote:

I also knew ayman, and I can say that he is possibly the best person that I ever knew. I’m angry that it was him instead of me. I’m angry that his daughter will never know him. And I’m angry at the thought that someone would pass judgement on a muslim man that decided this was the best way he could serve Allah. What makes Ayman Taha so special? He was the best and the brightest that America could offer. I really think that. If you dare to make disparaging comments about slain servicemembers, then you make me sick and ashamed that you are an American. You have your right to free speech, but it was people like Ayman– people that had everything, and gave it up for an ideal– that endured hell for you to have that right.

General Colin Powell discusses the second photo here (starting at 4:27):