What about "Wait a Damn Minute Day" ????
Folks,
A while back was Memorial Day. The official clap-trap that always surfaces on that day always gets me going. Below is the local newspaper's editorial. Points that caught my eye are in red. My comments are added in blue.
- Uke Man
Memorial Day - Columbus Dispatch editorial
Today is time to reflect on the sacrifices that keep nation safe, free
(How many wars, and which ones kept the nation "safe" and "free"? Canada and Australia are free of England; did they have a revolutionary war with England? How many Americans had been killed or even threatened by North Vietnamese before we took on that war? If soldiers died in wars that weren't fought to keep oor nation safe and free, should we still reflect on their sacrifices? If so, shouldn't we also reflect on the less than honorable motives of those who sent them off to die?)
Monday, May 28, 2007 3:27 AM
How incongruous that the most solemn of national holidays ( Solemn?? It should be solemn, but not in the way the Dispatch intends. It is a heavy undertaking to consider the millions who have been sacrificed for little or no reason) marks the unofficial start of the most frivolous of seasons. Americans look forward to this three-day break, which brings the opening of swimming pools and other summer recreational opportunities.
On the way to the cookouts and playgrounds today, people should stop by cemeteries and reflect on the sacrifices made by their countrymen since the American Revolution to make and keep the nation safe and free (What percentage of our young people killed and maimed in war would YOU place in this category?).
This holiday emerged from the ruins of the Civil War. (Which of these Civil War dead do we honor? Which sacrificed to keep our nation safe and free? Who are the "heroes"?) Both Northerners and Southerners wanted to honor their heroes, and both regions claimed to be the first to hold regular tributes to dead soldiers. What about holding regular diatribes against greedy, self-serving, insane war mongers?
In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson bestowed the title of birthplace of Memorial Day on Waterloo, N.Y., where 100 years earlier townspeople closed shops, lowered flags and offered praise and honor to the soldiers killed in the war.
Because of a tradition of spring flowers blanketing graves, many Americans called the annual observance Decoration Day. By the end of the 19th century, it was observed nationally on May 30. Not until 1971 was Memorial Day, as it came to be known, made a national holiday by an act of Congress. Henceforth, the holiday was to be observed on the last Monday in May.
Many Americans have become blasé about the importance of honoring the nation's war dead. (The obvious importance of a blanket honoring of soldiers for making us "safe and free" is the "importance" of maintaining a blanket endorsement of all militarism as promoting safety and freedom regardless of the actual motivations). It's good to remember that those who put on the uniform agreed to do what many Americans could not -- or would not -- do. They sacrificed their personal security, left loved ones thousands of miles away and struggled with harsh conditions to answer the call to duty. And that duty cost them everything. Shouldn't at least part of Memorial Day be a solemn recognition of the meaninglessness of so many having sacrificed everything through a false sense of duty?
Compared with what they gave, the time it takes to visit a cemetery, attend a public commemoration and offer a prayer for these defenders and their loved ones is nothing. The loved ones of my good friend who died in the Viet Nam War were never threatened by anyone from Asia. Still I solemnly mourn him, and not just on Memorial Day. But not because he died doing his "duty" for God, country, freedom, and security.
A while back was Memorial Day. The official clap-trap that always surfaces on that day always gets me going. Below is the local newspaper's editorial. Points that caught my eye are in red. My comments are added in blue.
- Uke Man
Memorial Day - Columbus Dispatch editorial
Today is time to reflect on the sacrifices that keep nation safe, free
(How many wars, and which ones kept the nation "safe" and "free"? Canada and Australia are free of England; did they have a revolutionary war with England? How many Americans had been killed or even threatened by North Vietnamese before we took on that war? If soldiers died in wars that weren't fought to keep oor nation safe and free, should we still reflect on their sacrifices? If so, shouldn't we also reflect on the less than honorable motives of those who sent them off to die?)
Monday, May 28, 2007 3:27 AM
How incongruous that the most solemn of national holidays ( Solemn?? It should be solemn, but not in the way the Dispatch intends. It is a heavy undertaking to consider the millions who have been sacrificed for little or no reason) marks the unofficial start of the most frivolous of seasons. Americans look forward to this three-day break, which brings the opening of swimming pools and other summer recreational opportunities.
On the way to the cookouts and playgrounds today, people should stop by cemeteries and reflect on the sacrifices made by their countrymen since the American Revolution to make and keep the nation safe and free (What percentage of our young people killed and maimed in war would YOU place in this category?).
This holiday emerged from the ruins of the Civil War. (Which of these Civil War dead do we honor? Which sacrificed to keep our nation safe and free? Who are the "heroes"?) Both Northerners and Southerners wanted to honor their heroes, and both regions claimed to be the first to hold regular tributes to dead soldiers. What about holding regular diatribes against greedy, self-serving, insane war mongers?
In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson bestowed the title of birthplace of Memorial Day on Waterloo, N.Y., where 100 years earlier townspeople closed shops, lowered flags and offered praise and honor to the soldiers killed in the war.
Because of a tradition of spring flowers blanketing graves, many Americans called the annual observance Decoration Day. By the end of the 19th century, it was observed nationally on May 30. Not until 1971 was Memorial Day, as it came to be known, made a national holiday by an act of Congress. Henceforth, the holiday was to be observed on the last Monday in May.
Many Americans have become blasé about the importance of honoring the nation's war dead. (The obvious importance of a blanket honoring of soldiers for making us "safe and free" is the "importance" of maintaining a blanket endorsement of all militarism as promoting safety and freedom regardless of the actual motivations). It's good to remember that those who put on the uniform agreed to do what many Americans could not -- or would not -- do. They sacrificed their personal security, left loved ones thousands of miles away and struggled with harsh conditions to answer the call to duty. And that duty cost them everything. Shouldn't at least part of Memorial Day be a solemn recognition of the meaninglessness of so many having sacrificed everything through a false sense of duty?
Compared with what they gave, the time it takes to visit a cemetery, attend a public commemoration and offer a prayer for these defenders and their loved ones is nothing. The loved ones of my good friend who died in the Viet Nam War were never threatened by anyone from Asia. Still I solemnly mourn him, and not just on Memorial Day. But not because he died doing his "duty" for God, country, freedom, and security.
I mourn because he should have lived and because he died for nothing.
But these observances are not just for those who have died. They also remind the men and women serving in the U.S. military that the nation values their work and their courage. With the nation's military embroiled in two wars, that message is more important than ever (Yeah, with two wars going on, we wouldn't want the troops to find out they've been duped. If they started asking questions, it could mess up everything).
1 Comments:
Hi Tom,
Thanks for your thoughtful message. You are right as always. I will miss your blogs while I'm gone this week. Keep up the wonderful work. Sondra
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