Honoring and Remembering: Memorial Day 2023
“Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay” – Barack Obama
Here are some things one should NOT do during Memorial Day.
Memorial Day 2023
- A “HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY” to anyone is not appropriate.
This is not Christmas or an occasion for celebration — Memorial Day was not formed in enjoyment with the promise of delivering fun each year. It was created as a means for the nation to establish a time to remember the soldiers who had sacrificed their lives in service to America.
In 1868, Gen. John Logan proclaimed the day 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 churchyard in the land.”
Despite what the day has changed in American culture, it was established to honor and remember America’s fallen.
- DON’T THANK THE CURRENT LIVING VETERAN TROOPS
Don’t thank them only because it is Memorial Day, at the very least. They deserve respect and gratitude every day of the year, but this day is set aside exclusively for America’s dead warriors from every battle.
America’s veterans are celebrated during November on Veteran’s Day when we try to commemorate and respect the contributions of all veterans. But, Memorial Day allows the public to focus on those military people who are no longer with us — an essential distinction.
- AVOID IGNORING ITS IMPORTANCE
Although there are several discounts available on almost everything, including furniture, vehicles, and pool supplies, the holiday is not about those things. When we simply think about refrigerator sales or backyard barbecues, we miss the real significance of life. This is not something we can tolerate, especially given that the nation has been at war nonstop for the last 16 years.
Grill amazing steaks, and find the perfect thing on sale, but have time to raise a glass to honor America’s fallen.
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DON’T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE HOLIDAY
Allowing the day to totally go from the public’s memory would be even worse than letting it become associated with big discounts and potato salad. We insult our dead soldiers when it reduces to nothing more than a much-anticipated extra morning of sleeping in rather than the day of meditation and gratitude it was intended to be.
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DON’T LET POLITICS KEEP YOU FROM RENDERING RESPECT
It doesn’t matter if you disagree with the concept of war, the justifications for American involvement in the conflict, or the actions of a particular president who served as Commander in Chief during a particular conflict. For more than 200 years, people have defended America’s interests and people, and your right to disagree with the justifications for war should be treated apart from your opinion of the troops themselves.
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