"Happy" Memorial Day?
It’s May 30th , so Happy Memorial Day! (if that really is the
appropriate greeting for this Day of Remembrance)
There appears to be some confusion about this day.
History teaches:
Memorial Day -
originally known as Decoration Day - was officially proclaimed on May 5
1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the
Republic and first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the
graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The
first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873.
In 1915, inspired by the poem "In
Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:
We cherish too, the
Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led, It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies. |
She then conceived the idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day
in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to
wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going
to benefit servicemen in need
Traditional observance of Memorial Day has diminished
over the years. Today, many Americans have forgotten the meaning and
traditions. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are ignored, neglected.
Most people no longer remember – or were ever taught - proper flag etiquette
for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day
parades, many have not held one in decades
Many think when Congress made the day into a three-day
weekend with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it easier for people to
be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. The VFW stated in its
2002 Memorial Day address: "Changing the date merely to create three-day
weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has
contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial
Day."
On January 19, 1999 then
Senator Daniel Inouye introduced a bill to restore the traditional day of
observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th instead of "the last Monday in
May". April 19, 1999 Representative Jim Gibbons introduced the bill to the
House. The bills were referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and the
Committee on Government Reform.
To date, there have been
no further developments on the bill.
Conjoined with the above
is the crossfire of political warfare. Flagitious politicians discovered long
ago they could use War and Armies to help ensure their re-election despite
their lies in violation of their sacred oath, fear mongering a trusting but
uninformed electorate to send the blood of America’s prime along with her
treasure to be spilled and spent in useless, senseless, illegal wars for their
own sake while purring words of “protecting our Liberty” and “keeping us Free”
despite copious truth no such “threats to national security” really existed. If
Johnny came marching home it was often without arms or legs or, worse, the
bodies marched home by comrades. Mother’s and widows received a commemorative
flag for compensation and comfort from a grateful nation who, as a result of
their sacrifice – voluntarily or conscripted - can save 20% today on a new
mattress and box springs! Thanks again - from of a grateful nation.
Fortunately, more and more
today declare themselves Anti-War having come to despise the waste of lives in
senseless engagements. The young soldier who lost his life or limbs in
Afghanistan today – for what? Protecting what? Which Freedom Liberty or Right
of ours is more secure today than it was yesterday because a young soldier volunteered
to be dead somewhere in the Afghanistan outback?
Given the choice, most
returning Vets are pro-comrade but anti-war.
My neighbor said
I don't claim to speak for all veterans. I don't want to see Memorial Day become a junior Veterans Day. Memorial Day is
about the men who did not come home. The sailors of the USS Arizona.
The soldiers who never got off the beaches of Normandy. The
Marines lost
on crumby, little Pacific islands. The pilots who had one
bomb run or dogfight too many. The men who became the cruel reality
of the statistics of war.
Memorial Day isn't
just about the battles immortalized in film and literature but the many battles and fire fights that live
only in the memories of the survivors. The men of whom history takes no
notice. The men who left behind mothers, wives and children. Men who
left
holes only in the lives of those who knew them but not in
the telling of History. Men who had no glory or medals - just the final
horror of war.On Memorial Day, I unleash the memories, lift my glass high, toast my friends who aren't here and hide a tear…
Happy Memorial Day? Indeed…..
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