“Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of
remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.” This is how a
website dedicated to Memorial Day
begins its explanation and history of what we are celebrating and honoring
today.
While I am almost always against the wars our country
chooses to wage, I am always grateful to those that serve in our military. In my opinion, we will forever require a force
to protect and fight for the rest of us, those who stay home, or by their
very presence keep us out of war. I wish it wasn’t so, but I’m certain it
is. Those we honor today are the ones who
put their lives on the line for their beliefs, each other and a huge body of US
citizens, and thereby lost them.
Thankfully, I have never personally lost anyone in this
manner but have enormous respect and caring for those who have. Many years passed when I didn’t do anything
towards honoring the many thousands of lives lost in the name of my country.
Today, I give to the Wounded Warriors Project on a regular
basis because it is a wonderful organization and because I cannot think of a
better way to honor those that died in the service of their country than to
help care for those that didn’t die, but instead experience the after-effects of their
sacrifice every day.
Thank you.
Really nice post Kathy! It is awesome to see people pay attention to what Memorial Day is really about. Too many people seem to forget.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Ardee-ann
Ardee-Ann, I woke up this morning with this post in my head. Memorial Day has been a day about shopping, unfortunately. But there are many who still remember.
DeleteGreat post, Kathy. Agree or disagree about what and where our country fights but please honor the men and women who serve and die.
ReplyDeleteI come from a war where people spit on me when I returned-- all because I served. I'm so glad to see that sentiment is gone and many understand the difference in service and politics.
Thank you for your help, Kathy
It breaks my heart, Dannie, that those terrible things happened to you and several of my friends who served. It's way, way late - but I will say to you the same thing I say to every military person I have the opportunity to and always to the men manning the Disabled Veterans Poppy Drives - thank you for your service.
Delete