Red Poppies and Memorial Day 2011
I gave my two granddaughters, aged 11 and 13, little, red, paper poppies the other day.
They looked at them skeptically and asked, “What’s this?” I briefly tried to explain their meaning, that red poppies are worn on Memorial Day to commemorate America’s war dead, the hundreds of thousands of men and women who have died for our country. The girls shrugged and pocketed the poppies.
Assuming their public school teachers would at least make passing reference to the meaning of this national holiday and maybe even of the poppies, I asked them today what their teachers had said about Memorial Day. The eleven year old answered, “Nothing,” the thirteen year old answered, “A few told us to enjoy the day off, one told us to stay safe.” I asked if they had worn the poppies. Both said no, that they would have felt “weird.”
Very sad, indeed, on a number of counts including the fact Memorial Day is not intended for enjoyment but for remembering.
It’s easy to forget the meanings behind national holidays, especially when those charged with educating either don’t know the meanings or don’t care. Christmas, of course, is now regarded in our schools as nothing more than an occasion for a week off and in American society in general as a time for shopping and getting.
And people often confuse Veterans Day, when we honor all those who have served the nation, with Memorial Day, when we pay respects to those who have perished in the service of our country so, to be generous, maybe we can attribute the prevailing disinterest . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=4670)
Showing posts with label veterans day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label veterans day. Show all posts
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Thursday, November 11, 2010
America's Veterans
America's Veterans
When you next look at your kids, thank a vet. When you next go shopping, thank a vet. When you next go to church, thank a vet. When you next draw a breath, thank a vet.
It’s far too easy to forget the men and women who made all that looking, shopping, church-going–and breathing– and the hundreds of other things we do daily, possible.
They are America’s veterans, the people who fought, and sometimes died, in America’s wars and who are too often forgotten in our day-to-day lives. They are the men and women who served the people of America. They are the other people, those who risked their lives so that we could shop, worship, and, yes, breathe. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=2610)
When you next look at your kids, thank a vet. When you next go shopping, thank a vet. When you next go to church, thank a vet. When you next draw a breath, thank a vet.
It’s far too easy to forget the men and women who made all that looking, shopping, church-going–and breathing– and the hundreds of other things we do daily, possible.
They are America’s veterans, the people who fought, and sometimes died, in America’s wars and who are too often forgotten in our day-to-day lives. They are the men and women who served the people of America. They are the other people, those who risked their lives so that we could shop, worship, and, yes, breathe. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=2610)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Veterans Day, 2009
Once again, we honor today those brave millions who have served and fought for our country over its history. Without them, we would not have a history.
We especially pay tribute to those now fighting in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. May they all come home healthy.
Remember to fly our flag!
I proudly reprint here last year’s two Veterans Day salutes:
It was the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month when the ”War to End All Wars,” “the Great War,” ended in 1918 with the declaration of an armistice.
The fighting was over between the Allies and Germany, the bloodletting was finished, even though the politicians took another seven months to declare an official end to what would become known as World War I with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles: http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp
Ironically, the punitive and shortsighted nature of that treaty . . .
We especially pay tribute to those now fighting in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. May they all come home healthy.
Remember to fly our flag!
I proudly reprint here last year’s two Veterans Day salutes:
It was the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month when the ”War to End All Wars,” “the Great War,” ended in 1918 with the declaration of an armistice.
The fighting was over between the Allies and Germany, the bloodletting was finished, even though the politicians took another seven months to declare an official end to what would become known as World War I with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles: http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp
Ironically, the punitive and shortsighted nature of that treaty . . .
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Memorial Day, Obama Style
Memorial Day: What It’s All About, Obama-Style
President Barack Hussein Obama devoted his Saturday radio address to the nation to the subject of Memorial Day and he, his writers, and his trusty teleprompter delivered a touching, patriotic speech intended to gladden our hearts and stir our emotions.
He jabbered on about the “sacred trust” he felt toward our armed forces, about never sending them unnecessarily “into harm’s way,” adding that, “it is time to remember the mission that the military serves.”
And why? Because “That is what Memorial Day is all about. It is about doing all we can to repay the debt we owe to those men and women who have answered our nation’s call by fighting under its flag:” http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/05/obama_what_memorial_day_is_all.html
All fine and good and any decent American would concur that we all owe the deepest expression of heartfelt gratitude to our troops and veterans. Most of us don’t need reminders not to forget the mission of our defenders.
The one flaw in that wonderful address is that it reflected a shameful exhibition of the abysmal ignorance, the dearth of demonstrable patriotism, and the lack of a fundamental knowledge of American tradition and history which even a sixth-grader in years gone by would have known.
Obama, his speechwriters, and his faithful teleprompter evidently weren’t aware that as great a debt as we owe to our troops and war vets, that, Mr. President is not what Memorial Day is all about. That is what Veterans Day, not Memorial Day, is all about. There is a difference.
FYI, Mr. President, although efforts have been made to change the date of Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, it still commemorates the signing of the armistice that ended World War One, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month on the calendar.
May isn’t even close to November, Mr. Obama.
Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day,. . .
(Read the rest at http://genelalor.com/)
President Barack Hussein Obama devoted his Saturday radio address to the nation to the subject of Memorial Day and he, his writers, and his trusty teleprompter delivered a touching, patriotic speech intended to gladden our hearts and stir our emotions.
He jabbered on about the “sacred trust” he felt toward our armed forces, about never sending them unnecessarily “into harm’s way,” adding that, “it is time to remember the mission that the military serves.”
And why? Because “That is what Memorial Day is all about. It is about doing all we can to repay the debt we owe to those men and women who have answered our nation’s call by fighting under its flag:” http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/05/obama_what_memorial_day_is_all.html
All fine and good and any decent American would concur that we all owe the deepest expression of heartfelt gratitude to our troops and veterans. Most of us don’t need reminders not to forget the mission of our defenders.
The one flaw in that wonderful address is that it reflected a shameful exhibition of the abysmal ignorance, the dearth of demonstrable patriotism, and the lack of a fundamental knowledge of American tradition and history which even a sixth-grader in years gone by would have known.
Obama, his speechwriters, and his faithful teleprompter evidently weren’t aware that as great a debt as we owe to our troops and war vets, that, Mr. President is not what Memorial Day is all about. That is what Veterans Day, not Memorial Day, is all about. There is a difference.
FYI, Mr. President, although efforts have been made to change the date of Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, it still commemorates the signing of the armistice that ended World War One, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month on the calendar.
May isn’t even close to November, Mr. Obama.
Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day,. . .
(Read the rest at http://genelalor.com/)
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