Here is an extract from The WashingtonPost:
I’m a veteran and I hate ‘Happy Memorial
Day.’ Here’s why.
By
Jennie Haskamp May 22 at 11:02 AM
. . . I’m angry. I’ve come to realize people think Memorial Day
is the official start of summer. It’s grilled meat, super-duper discounts, a day
(or two) off work, beer, potato salad and porches draped in bunting.
But it
shouldn’t be. It’s more than that.
Nearly
150 years ago, Memorial Day— first called Decoration Day— was set aside to decorate
the graves of the men who’d recently died in battle. America was still reeling
from the Civil War when Gen. John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army
of the Republic, issued a proclamation in 1868, according to a PBS account of
his decision. “The 30th of May,” he declared, “would be an occasion to
honor those who died in the conflict.”
He
chose the date because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
Here’s
how it was outlined in General Orders No. 11, Washington, D.C., May
5, 1868:
The
30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers
or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their
country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every
city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form
of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange
such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
How is
it then, some century and a half later, after more than a decade of war in two
countries that claimed the lives of some 6,861 Americans,
we are collectively more concerned with having a barbecue and going shopping
than pausing to appreciate the cost of our freedom to do so?
A
friend reminded me that plenty of people use the weekend the way it was
designed: to pause and remember the men and women who paid the price of our
freedom, and then go on about enjoying those freedoms.
I’m
frustrated by people all over the country who view the day as anything but a
day to remember our WAR DEAD. I hate hearing “Happy Memorial Day.”
It’s
not Veteran’s Day. It’s not military appreciation day. Don’t thank me for my
service. Please don’t thank me for my service. It’s
take the time to pay homage to the men and women who died while wearing the
cloth of this nation you’re so freely enjoying today, day.
Read
the rest here.
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