Memorial Day

[Axel Slingerland]

Memorial Day is in two days. I think the number of times I will feel the need to tell people that Memorial Day is not a happy occasion will be five. That's been the average for the last ten year or so. I was talking to Dan Romano, the Meteorologist at KIEM Channel 3 in Eureka at Winco (grocery store) one day and that came up in our conversation. He's a vet, and gets irritated about the whole "Happy Memorial Day" thing too.

I told him that since he sometimes did the News that he should say about Military Holidays, and which ones are not a reason for a party. When Congress and LBJ made it into a three day holiday, that it became an insult to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. He decided to do that, and did so in every broadcast over the three day weekend.

He wrote a nice piece about how Memorial Day and Veterans Day are solemn military holidays, Veterans Day less so, but it still honors those who gave their lives for our Country, and how many military holidays are never even mentioned. He asked, "How many times have you heard anyone say 'Happy K-9 Veterans Day' or 'Happy Vietnam Veterans Day'? K-9 Veterans Day is on March 13th and Vietnam Veterans Day is on March 29th, and I bet the vast number of people in this country don't know that."

But very year it's the same thing... "Happy Memorial Day" Thanks, LBJ.

/End Rant

 

[Yvonne Smith]

This is an excellent point, @Axel Slingerland , and one that Bobby and I have talked about before, too. Sometimes, it seems like the meaning of ALL of our holidays has been lost, and it just turned into some kind of 3-4 day party weekend vacation.
When I was growing up, we always took bouquets and went to the cemetery to put flowers on the graves of relatives who had passed, whether they were military or not.
Because it was a time when families got together to do this, we usually had a picnic as part of the weekend, maybe because that was the simplest way to feed extended family.
Even back in the 50’s, there were people who drank and partied over the holiday, but I believe the majority of the time, people recognized it as an actual Memorial Day .

Now, it does not seem to matter what the holiday is about as long as it is a reason for people to party and have fun, and explode fireworks. I think that students are not taught as much about the meaning of these days as we were , back when I was in school. Our Independence Day celebration is the same thing, and young people don’t even think or understand the depth of the day.
It looks like President Trump is bringing back more of the military honors, and they have talked about having a veterans month. Next month is the 250th anniversary of our military, and there is going to be parades and celebration of that , from what I have been reading.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Most of us don't know what we're celebrating, including myself who thought I was a history buff.
Most of our celebrations are from pagan holidays or religions.
This one about our National Anthim below really shocked me and made me wonder how we didn't even know the story behind our nations Independence.
it brought tears to my eyes, guess I'm patriotic to a fault.

 

[Susannah]

Memorial Day is in two days. I think the number of times I will feel the need to tell people that Memorial Day is not a happy occasion will be five. That's been the average for the last ten year or so. I was talking to Dan Romano, the Meteorologist at KIEM Channel 3 in Eureka at Winco (grocery store) one day and that came up in our conversation. He's a vet, and gets irritated about the whole "Happy Memorial Day" thing too.

I told him that since he sometimes did the News that he should say about Military Holidays, and which ones are not a reason for a party. When Congress and LBJ made it into a three day holiday, that it became an insult to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. He decided to do that, and did so in every broadcast over the three day weekend.

He wrote a nice piece about how Memorial Day and Veterans Day are solemn military holidays, Veterans Day less so, but it still honors those who gave their lives for our Country, and how many military holidays are never even mentioned. He asked, "How many times have you heard anyone say 'Happy K-9 Veterans Day' or 'Happy Vietnam Veterans Day'? K-9 Veterans Day is on March 13th and Vietnam Veterans Day is on March 29th, and I bet the vast number of people in this country don't know that."

But very year it's the same thing... "Happy Memorial Day" Thanks, LBJ.

/End Rant

Axel, you are so right about this. I don’t think much is taught in public schools about our history or the meaning of it anymore.

 

[Sheryl]

 

[Axel Slingerland]

Sometimes, it seems like the meaning of ALL of our holidays has been lost, and it just turned into some kind of 3-4 day party weekend vacation.

Exactly. And pardonnez mon français, it really pisses me off. The only thing "public related" that makes me madder is Stolen Valor. There was a time when I was tempted to kill for that. Or at least "make a believer out of them" as my Mama used to say. If you can't serve that's fine, but saying you did when you didn't would earn you a good ol' country asswhoopin' if I had anything to say about it.

Because it was a time when families got together to do this, we usually had a picnic as part of the weekend, maybe because that was the simplest way to feed extended family.

When I was little, probably 5 at the most, my family had a reunion on Memorial Day. We had it in the backyard of our house and there were no flags, banners or any of the other "patriotic" nonsense you see today. It was just a family reunion and it had nothing to do with Memorial Day other than the whole family going to the cemetery to pay their respects beforehand. Not to mention, that was years before Memorial Day became a three day National holiday anyway.

Now, it does not seem to matter what the holiday is about as long as it is a reason for people to party and have fun, and explode fireworks.

I like fireworks as much as anyone, but there's a line you should not cross if you're gonna set them off. In Eureka, I had a 150' long 3" hose with a high velocity sprayer on it capable of 1,000 to 1,500 gallons of water per minute, that could cover our roof and the entire common yard where other tenants would shoot off professional grade, highly illegal for personal use fireworks.

Every lame excuse they could think of they would be out there for hours shooting off stuff you can't buy at those little stands you see in store parking lots, with Memorial Day, July 4th, Veterans day and New Years Eve being the worst. I put out fires they started more than once. The Housing Authority never did a thing until I took a bunch of photos after putting a fire out and threatened to send them to HUD. That got their attention...