Monday, May 26, 2008

Memorial Day 2008: First a letter whose opinion I share and then some!





I have to preface this with my own feeling and that is that since Bush I have had serious doubts as to why we have been in conflict or war throughout our entire history as you know and I have posted on it. I no longer trust our Goverments motivations as you know but I absolutely honor all men and women who have answered the call and especially for those that have lost their lives in defense of us and their families! Then I fewejztgsglul it every day!

First a letter whose opinion I share and then some:

Memorial DayBy Rep. Don Young

May 25, 2008Sunday

Every year at this time we enjoy a three-day weekend in honor of Memorial Day. But how often do we actually stop and remember why we have the extra day off from work? This country is home to millions of courageous men and women who have served their country with honor and bravery, and Alaska is where many of them call home.

As we enjoy the nice weather and time with our loved ones this weekend, our American soldiers are overseas fighting those who wish to do us harm. We sleep safe and sound at night because of the freedom they provide us. Many of these heroic men and women, and their families, have given their all in the name of freedom and in the defense of the United States, and for that, there are not enough words or sentiments to thank them.

We speak often of supporting our troops, but support alone is not enough. We must also respect them, respect their families, and respect the good work they do.
Take time this weekend to remember our brave men and women overseas, and those who have gone before us in the name of liberty. If you see a service-member, stop and thank them for all they do for us each and every day and say a prayer for their safety.
contact or donate to our troops
From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of our men and women of the Armed Services, and thank you to your families. You epitomize the American spirit. God bless you and God bless our fine country. That was from Representetive Young. I would like to express my own cocern and appreciation for my sons, god am I thinking of you, and for all the men and woman serving us and being abused by Bush!
Memorial Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Memorial Day Weekend)
This article is about the holiday in the United States.
Memorial Day
Observed by
United States
Type
Federal (and most U.S. states)
Significance
Honors men and women who have died in military service
Date
Last Monday in May
2008 date
May 26, 2008
2009 date
May 25, 2009
Observances
visiting cemeteries
Memorial Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (in 2008 on May 26). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who perished while in military service to their country. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War

Traditional observance
Many people observe this holiday by visiting cemeteries and memorials. A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. US Eastern time. Another tradition is to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff from dawn until noon local time. Volunteers usually place an American flag upon each grave site located in a National Cemetery.

In addition to remembrance, Memorial Day is also used as a time for picnics, barbecues, family gatherings, and sporting events. One of the longest standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911. Some Americans also view Memorial Day as the unofficial beginning of summer and Labor Day as the unofficial end of the season. The national "Click It or Ticket" campaign ramps up beginning Memorial Day weekend, noting the beginning of the most dangerous season for auto accidents and other safety related incidents. The U.S. Air Force "101 Critical Days of Summer" begin on this day as well. Many Americans use Memorial Day to also honor any family members who have died, not just servicemen.

Memorial Day formerly occurred on May 30, and some, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), advocate returning to this fixed date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address, "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day." Hawaii's Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, has repeatedly introduced measures to return Memorial Day to its traditional day since 1987.

Community Observance
In addition to national observances, many individual communities hold memorial observance for fallen soldiers who were from that town by having a ceremony in a church or town memorial park. It is also common for fire and police departments to remember and honor members lost in the line of duty. Towns often hold a memorial day parade to remember those people. Participation in such a parade is by community organizations such as members of the local emergency services and their vehicles, Rotary Clubs, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and bands from the local high school or church groups. Communities may also hold a town-wide picnic barbecue at a local park in which the whole town is invited to attend.

History
Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died. Some of the places creating an early memorial day include Charleston, South Carolina; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Richmond, Virginia; Carbondale, Illinois; Columbus, Mississippi; many communities in Vermont; and some two dozen other cities and towns. These observances eventually coalesced around Decoration Day, honoring the Union dead, and the several Confederate Memorial Days.

According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first memorial day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic race track in Charleston. The site was a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who had died while captive. The freed slaves reinterred the dead Union soldiers from the mass grave to individual graves, fenced in the graveyard & built an entry arch declaring it a Union graveyard; a very daring thing to do in the South shortly after North's victory. On May 30 1886? the freed slaves returned to the spiffed up graveyard with flowers they'd picked from the countryside & decorated the individual gravesites, thereby creating the 1st Decoration Day. A parade with thousands of freed blacks and Union soldiers was followed by patriotic singing and a picnic.

The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. The village was credited with being the birthplace because it observed the day on May 5, 1866, and each year thereafter, and because it is likely that the friendship of General John Murray, a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General John A. Logan, who led the call for the day to be observed each year and helped spread the event nationwide, was a key factor in its growth.

General Logan had been impressed by the way the South honored their dead with a special day and decided the Union needed a similar day. Reportedly, Logan said that it was most fitting; that the ancients, especially the Greeks, had honored their dead, particularly their heroes, by chaplets of laurel and flowers, and that he intended to issue an order designating a day for decorating the grave of every soldier in the land, and if he could he would have made it a holiday.
Logan had been the principal speaker in a citywide memorial observation on April 29, 1866 at a cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, an event that likely gave him the idea to make it a national holiday. On May 5, 1868 in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans' organization, Logan issued a proclamation that "Decoration Day" be observed nationwide. It was observed for the first time on May 30 of the same year; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of a battle. The tombs of fallen Union soldiers were decorated in remembrance of this day.

Many of the states of the U.S. South refused to celebrate Decoration Day, due to lingering hostility towards the Union Army and also because there were very few veterans of the Union Army who lived in the South. A notable exception was Columbus, Mississippi, which on April 25, 1866 at its Decoration Day commemorated both the Union and Confederate casualties buried in its cemetery.

The alternative name of "Memorial Day" was first used in 1882 but did not become more common until after World War II and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967 . On June 28, 1968 the United States Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill which moved three holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend and for the first time recognized Columbus Day as a federal holiday. The holidays included Washington's Birthday (which evolved into Presidents' Day), Veterans Day and Memorial Day. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971 . After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply at the state level, all fifty states adopted the measure within a few years, although Veterans Day was eventually changed back to its traditional date. Ironically, most corporate businesses no longer close on Columbus Day or Veterans Day, and an increasing number are staying open on President's Day as well. Memorial Day, however, has endured as one holiday during which most businesses stay closed because it marks the beginning of the "summer vacation season," as does neighboring Canada's Victoria Day which occurs on the prior Monday.

In literature and music
The southeastern U.S. celebrates Decoration Day as a day to decorate the graves of all family members, and it is not reserved for those who served in the military. The region observes Decoration Day the Sunday before Memorial Day. Jason Isbell of the rock band Drive-By Truckers chronicled such an event in his epic ballad "Decoration Day," which is also the title cut to the eponymous album.
Charles Ives's symphonic poem "Decoration Day" depicts the holiday as he experienced it in his childhood, with his father's band leading the way to the town cemetery, the playing of Taps on a trumpet, and a livelier march tune on the way back to the town. It is frequently played with three other Ives works based on holidays as the second movement of A New England Holidays Symphony. Memorial Day USA
I am going to post this tribute to our war dead, to my sons and all our men and women serving and those that have served in the past. I have to take some time out for a cook out etc. before my better half revolts but I will try to stop in on occasion. You all have a nice day!


James Joiner
Gardner Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Good Memorial Day post, Jim. The only problem I have with it, is the letter from Rep Don Young. It is chock-full of propagandizing BS. It is full of fear-mongering and war-mongering. Take this one line: "...our American soldiers are overseas fighting those who wish to do us harm."

Are there some people overseas wishing to do us harm? Of course there are. But the fact remains, that the reason they 'wish to do us harm', is because the US has turned into a hegemonic bully. We invade and occupy their sovereign lands, and dictate to them how they should live and rule themselves.

This is NOT the United States of Earth. It is the United States of America. It is our interventionist foreign policy that is creating most of the world's friction; and has been for the last hundred years or so. The terrorist problem has multiplied itself ten-fold since Bush's Holy Oedipal Crusade on the Middle-East and all things Muslim. WE are the root of our problems with these people. Living in a state of denial will not correct that problem, it will only serve to exacerbate it.

Americans, in general, are so arrogant, they assume that they, and they alone, know the best way to govern and live. They take their 232 year experiment, and want to impose it, with force if necessary, on peoples with a 5,000 year history of culture and government, regardless if they want it or not.

Put yourself in their sandals, Jim. At the present time, most of us are extremely unhappy with the way our government is being run. Do we want an outside force, such as China, Russia, or anyone else, to come in, using force, and tell us how to live and govern ourselves? I didn't think so. What gives us the right to strip others of their human dignity? Do you, or anyone else, honestly believe the people in other parts of the world are less worthy of human dignity than the Americans?

Water seeks it's own level, my friend. The advantage the Middle-Easterners have over us, is experience. They have a 5,000 year history of fighting subjegation by outside forces. There is no way we will attain success. With each passing day, things will only get worse, as we have already witnessed. We have absolutely no idea, not a clue, what they have in store for us next.

Not if, but rather when, they decide to start attacking us on our own sovereign soil, we'll be screaming 'bloody murder' and 'foul', shrieking, "The terrorists are attacking us!"; never thinking for one second, that that's what they're thinking about us right now.

We SHOULD honor our fallen on Memorial Day; but we should ALSO bear the full brunt of our guilt for sending many of them (Viet Nam, Afghanistan, and Iraq) to their graves prematurely and needlessly for our ultimate goal of hegemony and Imperialism.

Sorry for the length of this rant; I should have turned it over to Wally. ;)

jmsjoin said...

Brother
You're a riot! I agree with you but I wasn't thinking in those terms. I wanted to make sure I got something out and i was facing revolt here so I had to spend most of the day "enjoying" Memorial Day.
You read the part where I am proud as hell for all serving and I honor those that have died in service but I do not honor this Government as I no longer trust there motives and why our citizens are sacrificing their lives. I just got back from plasnting a flag on Trice's ex but my thoughts all day have been with my son in Iraq.
He told me has been showing a lot of signs of PTSD but they sent him to Iraq. Last week he called me and said they get daily missile attacks and they were all outside talking when one landed beside them but it was a dud.
Well he told his Commander he was pissed and he wanted to be sent to the front. So tomorrow he gets his wish! Knowing he is a hard ass hard case nut under good conditions and what he does, He is EOD and is a team leader leading the convoys and clearing ordinance when not fighting etc. My thoughts are with my sons right now. You take care you're a riot!

Anon-Paranoid said...

Patriot...

I thank your sons for the Service they are giving to our country.

It is sad though that its all about Oil and not Freedom nor Democracy.

I pray they come home safely and finally get discharges before anything bad happens to them.

Take care and...

God Bless.

Larry said...

Today the Emperor of the United States stood at Arlington pretending to weep over the many who gave their lives in service.

Today as the Emperor of the United States pretended to weep, more U.S soldiers were killed and several more seriously wounded in a war with no meaning and no end.

Today as the Emperor of the United States pretended to weep, he caused the deaths of more innocent Americans and Iraqi's.

All this as the Emperor pretended to weep.

Wally da Weasel said...

Wow----That was good, Larry!!!!

Was' up, Jimbo??????? Are ya mad at me???

I was answering comments on my last post, and didn't see your insightful comment.

I mentioned it to Bro, and he said maybe you sprouted some kind of prejudice against weasels.

Say it ain't so.

Goin' back to da nest, I need a nap.

jmsjoin said...

Anon
Thank you! It makes it hard when you see them in war zones one after the other and not only will there be no let up but it will soon get worse. Especially those like the one who got his request for more action yesterday or today as their patriotism and desire to serve is being used against them. I can only hope they survive Bush before his future debt chokes them.
What a night mare this monster Bush has created! The piss ant is having closed door closed to the press meetings to get money for McGoon. I am sick1 they just keep getting away with this crap! Nice to see you by the way. Hope you are well!

jmsjoin said...

larry
His dis ingenuousness is sickening. I am sickened many are still falling for it. The amount of people he has killed and the damage he has done and set in motion far into the foreseeable future will never be known and will be playing out for years and years to come.

jmsjoin said...

wally
I have to laugh! How could you get mad at Brother? Even you are okay with him.
Wally you better laugh Bud! I could never get mad at weasels. They are cool to have around but one of my Brother's had one that pissed him off so he had him with eggs for Breakfast. Take care of Brother and be nice!

jmsjoin said...

Hey Brother
I don't want to get your wife jealous but I forgot to preface that with Give Me A Kiss! Ha!

AMASIA said...

hi. I am not an american but i study here. I am from Iran! and you know what? I agree with u.I am against wars but I respect your troops. i don;t feel ok when they lose their lives in stupid wars started by politicians. well, life is sad. peace. I linked your blog.good luck

jmsjoin said...

Hi Amasia
Do you know naj from Iran Facts She Blogs in this circle and educates us about Iran. Always interesting to learn and hear the Iranian side of things.
Glad to hear from you! It is so hard knowing our Patriotic troops are being lied to and this is just beginning. I no longer trust the motivation of our Government but trust implicately average Americans and our troops. You take care and good luch with your studies. Thanks for linking I will reciprocate. Take care and stay in touch!