A look back into the archives on this date, brings us several other years that the Memorial Day observance was today, but I think the most meaningful of them was back in 2012 when Charlie and Edie attended the memorial service of Arthur Leiviska, a young man from Calumet who died in a prison camp in North Korea in April 1951 after being held captive for four months. He was officially declared Missing In Action. Through DNA tests, his remains were identified and finally brought back home to Lakeview Cemetery in Calumet. Hundreds of people came to the service, the Calumet High School Band played and there was a 21 gun salute to welcome this Hero home and lay him to rest in his home town. It is for brave young men and women like Private Leiviska that we take Memorial Day weekend to remember and honor them for giving the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. Thank you to all who have served. Please take the time to honor our fallen Veterans today and fly the flag in their memory.

On a lighter note, something else that recurs in the archives this time of year is the resurgence of the Black Flies here in the Keweenaw. The second photo is Charlie himself, mowing the grass around the Douglass Houghton Memorial in Eagle River, with his socks pulled over his pants, gloves tight around his sleeves and a bug net tucked in his collar... and somehow those pesky critters still find a way in to bite. Tis the season.

Today's video is an ode to Black Flies by Fred Marple. He's from New Hampshire and says they're the least-favorite form of wildlife there. That can be said for all of us here UP North, too, and Fred looks like he could be a good ole Yooper, so sing it for us Fred!

And once again, remember what today is all about... Happy Memorial Day!

Great to see the soldier brought back to his home. I'm currently working on getting a headstone for a Civil War veteran who died in 1873. We must honor our veterans!

The song about black flies is spot on!

Happy Memorial Day and thanks to all of the men
and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep
America safe! Hope everybody is having a safe
Memorial weekend.

Black flies was right on!

I second...and thanks to all the guys and gals who keep us safe...and free!
No black flies in Troy-MI, just black squirrels and their bite is fierce if you ain't got the nuts, man.

Aside from one’s religious or personal beliefs and positions, the things we point to most in order to reflect our strengths and convictions are the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. But without the sacrifice of the men and women we honor today, those documents would be nothing but pieces of paper.