No Memorial Day posts? OK I'll be the first..................................................................................................................
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I hate to say it but Memorial Day isn't as stylish anymore. It doesn't fit into todays culture. Then they don't really teach the younger generation much on American conflicts like it was years back. Maybe it's a subject that's to harsh on todays sensitve youth. I had teachers who were vets from WWII to Granada who was willing to tell their stories of good & bad to including the loss of freinds. Then being an Army brat made my world different than those I grew up with when we returned to Pittsburgh. But I did grow up knowing the meaning of Memorial Day & participated in many Memorial Day events as a JROTC & ROTC cadet & with my assigned unit. But what I see around to include the town I live in there wasn't really anything going on today, like it was just another day. Maybe if we collectively as Americans pull out heads out of our four points of contact to really look at what this weekend was about then it would make these other things a bit more clearer to understand. But I do keep the memories of those I know who served & are no longer around.Based on a conversation I had last night I was wondering how long it would take for someone (and who it would be) to start a post here. So I refrained thus far.
I've found that in many areas I've lived lately (read past 15 years) the importance of memorial day has gone downhill. Most people see it as a federal holiday off, but not much more than that.
Today on history channel you had a couple hours this morning on world wars. That's it. Rest of today was tulsa riots, food history shows, industry shows. BS kick in the nuts to what happened and why today exists. But it does mirror so much of culture.
There's estimated 300k or so WWII vets still alive in the USA. And far fewer every year. And they're marginalized.
Even worse? Korea? Vietnam? Iraq/Middle East? Afghanistan? Also, I'm not trying to ignore things like Cuba or Grenada, Kosovo or Somalia, etc but to list every engagement would take forever, not to diminish any.
But let's face it, too many have political qualms about where servicemembers went, or who sent them, and thus discount what those endured on behalf of all.
I still always throw $5 or $10 in the jar when VFW are out front with their poppies. But you don't even see them like you used to. Maybe because of how they're treated, or not, when they're out there.
It's disappointing to me, all of it. So in our household we just thank vets for their service as we see them. You don't know how long any of us have so appreciate them both while here and gone. I don't go shopping stores sales on the actual day, if anything you use it to get together at home, have a BBQ, etc. That's how it was when I was a kid. Just too bad the parades and such aren't what they once were either. Local govt seems not to care how they used to.
When I was a kid, the end of the week before memorial day the classes in the schools would walk to the local cemetery and you would all get bundles of small flags to walk through and leave a flag at every headstone which had a small iron holder signifying what war they fought in. There were markers for stones going back into the 1800s, and all the way through Vietnam.
AFAIK they don't do it there anymore. Havent seen it happen elsewhere either. I'm sure it came down to various politicization and objections from some.... sigh.
When there's more interest, effort, and energy behind/about the social justice BS than remembering those who gave all they had in service of their country and preserving these rights now taken for granted...I hate to say it but Memorial Day isn't as stylish anymore. It doesn't fit into todays culture. Then they don't really teach the younger generation much on American conflicts like it was years back. Maybe it's a subject that's to harsh on todays sensitve youth. I had teachers who were vets from WWII to Granada who was willing to tell their stories of good & bad to including the loss of freinds. Then being an Army brat made my world different than those I grew up with when we returned to Pittsburgh. But I did grow up knowing the meaning of Memorial Day & participated in many Memorial Day events as a JROTC & ROTC cadet & with my assigned unit. But what I see around to include the town I live in there wasn't really anything going on today, like it was just another day. Maybe if we collectively as Americans pull out heads out of our four points of contact to really look at what this weekend was about then it would make these other things a bit more clearer to understand. But I do keep the memories of those I know who served & are no longer around.
Also F off Google for a generic unpatriotic gray google logo for today. This proves my point.
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