Unfortunately, today, way too many people look at Memorial Day as a recreational day, simply a later date from school or a settled day from work. Military families and families of countless veterans, on another hand, have been afflicted by the pain and suffering of seeing their brothers, husbands or children set off to war, you start with the American Revolution until today's actions in the Middle East, through the devastating Civil war, into World War I and II, and throughout the Vietnam and Korean Wars. In their mind, Memorial Day is just a day to think on their loss and suffering, and to honor those who have served to guard America's interests.
Saying goodbye to a family member you could at almost no time see again is probably the most devastating feeling a relative may perpetually have, because they only never truly know if that individual is coming back. Their heart skips a defeat everytime that the doorbell rings while their family member is abroad, performing the best duty they'll perpetually perform while they defend justice and the quest for liberty. In the home, though, their family members dread as soon as they open that door, since the pulse quickens and horrible thoughts of a note of imminent loss haunts them. They fear answering the phone. They dread reading their mail. Life itself becomes an apparently endless, helpless watch for news, hopefully good news, but potentially news of the worst possible kind.
For a few people, the lucky ones, they just endure worries of losing a family member in battle for a couple years, but that in and of itself might have long-lasting, life altering ramifications. Worries causes great stress, making families walk on eggshells for entire tours of duty, as children go without their mother or father for long periods of time. For too many, the headlines and the ramifications are worse. They lose a family member to war, or their family member is seriously injured, maimed, or psychologically damaged while they defend our nation and its interests.
Let's not your investment veterans themselves and the sacrifices they've made. We only have to start the headlines to start to see the hardships they face, the daily dangers they deal with, and the horrors they endure. Veterans are and have now been our protectors, our defenders, and often at great cost, even for the survivors of war. War itself is hell, since the famous saying goes, and these many, wonderful men and women have entered hell willingly for centuries to guard the America they love, and to create another for many Americans.
In just about any case you are able to consider, on Memorial Day, these veterans who protect us from dangers abroad, and who've protected us from dangers for centuries, deserve our respect and our remembrance, and yet Memorial Day 2016 Weekend has converted into a cook out once you start the pool for the summer.
"Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished on the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten this is and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Many people no further remember the appropriate flag etiquette for the day."
In days past, great parades were thrown in honor of the wonderful veterans. Cities and townships gave speeches and held Memorial galas. In Israel, even today, to celebrate their Memorial Day, their television lists the names of all of the dead they've lost to war, and that simple process takes all the day. Perhaps we don't need to attend quite that extreme to honor the veterans who've served to guard us, but nonetheless, our ambivalence towards the real meaning behind Memorial Day is just a bit much.
It's high time that people do remember the American veterans which have made Memorial day and those many cook outs and days off that the Holiday now symbolizes possible. This season, we must try to go to a battle memorial, the grave of an expert, or at the least stop in a minute of silence reserved for the numerous who've sacrificed their lives to guard and supply the wonderful lives and opportunities that people have open to us today. This season, we must also honor and remember the numerous sacrifices of the families of veterans and war heroes, because if you believe about any of it, they sacrificed a lot for many of us Americans themselves.