By: Pat Gilley
Contributing Columnist
Dear Readers: I wrote the first draft of this column after watching the annual PBS Memorial Day Concert held on our beautiful Capital mall. The patriotic event is something my husband (USAF Lt. Col. Harold Gilley, Ret.) and I always try to include in our Memorial Day observances. If you missed it this year, merely "google" it and spend an hour reflecting on the reason we celebrate Memorial Day.
Inexplicably, this year’s presentation left my husband and me particularly moved. At its conclusion we sat quietly in our dimly lit family room–alone except for a family dog. Neither of us made a move to change the channel to find something else to entertain us. Neither of us spoke. PBS began to show a rerun of the program. We had missed the first few minutes of the program, and so we watched those introductory remarks and patriotic songs.
Reaching the portion of the show we had already seen, we simultaneously reached for the "control" to turn off the television and headed to our individual "me place" where we generally end our days reading.
But as I said above, I began to think about the meaning of Memorial Day and jotting down notes for this article. I went to my computer and did a quick "google search."
Like many of us these days, my appreciation of the many patriotic holidays we celebrate isn’t quite what it should be. And so, I present this brief refresher. We all know that on the 4th of July we commemorate the founding of our nation back in 1776. My research informed that Memorial Day has its roots in the Civil War.
It was originally called "Decoration Day" and honored those who had died in that war– both those who fought for the Union and for the Confederacy. Some say Waterloo, N. Y. was the first community to initiate the holiday. Flags and flowers were placed on the graves of the fallen soldiers each May 30th .
Veterans Day on the other hand, is a day to honor all who have served in the U.S. military. You can see the days serve different purposes and their origins are rooted in two different wars.
November 11th was observed as a federal holiday commemorating the end of World War I in 1918. It was originally known as "Armistice Day" but was not recognized as an official federal holiday until 1938.
In 1954, the holiday’s name was changed to Veterans Day to honor the veterans of all wars the U.S. has fought. In France and elsewhere in Europe, the day continues to be known as Armistice Day. The Uniform Holiday Act of 1968 moved the holiday from Nov. 11 to the "fourth Monday in October’ to create a long weekend for workers. Some began to refer to the holiday as "Labor Day." But in 1975 Pres. Jerry Ford returned the holiday to its original November date to focus on the significance in marking the end of war.
And there you have it.... A brief review of our national holidays. And now, my question, dear readers, is this: Do our national holidays still have to mean for us Americans?
My melancholy last Sunday evening caused me to wonder.
The leader of our nation began sending out his social media tweets recognizing Memorial Day early Monday morning. It is customary for our President to do so. He published multiple messages on the topic.
The first was at 6:22 a.m.: "HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS, WHO ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY, MANY OF THEM BEING CRIMINALS AND THE MENTALLY INSANE, THROUGH AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE, AND THROUGH JUDGES WHO ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS, RAPISTS, GANG MEMBERS, AND RELEASED PRISONERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, IN OUR COUNTRY SO THEY CAN ROB, MURDER, AND RAPE AGAIN– ALL PROTECTED BY THESE USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY.
HOPEFULLY, THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, AND OTHER GOOD AND COMPASSIONATE JUDGES THROUGHOUT THE LAND, WILL SAVE US FROM THE DECISIONS OF THE MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL. BUT FEAR NOT, WE HAVE MADE GREAT PROGRESS OVER THE LAST 4 MONTHS, AND AMERICA WILL BE SAFE AND GREAT AGAIN! AGAIN, HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, AND GOD B LESS AMERICA!"
The President’s holiday greeting speaks for itself. Veterans who have actually been members of our military, know that Memorial Day is not a day they spend thinking about great happiness. It is a day of reflection and commemoration, of thinking about and remembering friends lost and family members who gave the ultimate price for their country.
The President was given the honor of addressing the graduating class of West Point this past weekend. His messages to them were as "out of place" as his message to his fellow countrymen on Memorial Day morning.
I take the liberty of sharing a few of his remarks:
"West Point’s Class of 2025 joins the most elite and storied service academies in history....and you will become officers in the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known – and I know, because I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the military."
"In every battle, you’ll stand strong. You’ll work hard. You’ll stay tough. And you will fight, fight – and win, win, win."
"In past decades, leaders from both parties have dragged our military into missions that should have never happened. They sent our warriors on nation-building crusades to nations that wanted nothing to do with us –...while abusing our soldiers with absurd ideological experiments, here and at home."
"Those days are over. We’re getting rid of the distractions, and we’re focusing our military on its core mission: Crushing American’s adversaries, killing America’s enemies, and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before."
"The job of the American armed forces is not to host drag shows or to transform foreign cultures – but to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of a gun....the military’s job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America, anywhere, anytime and anyplace."
Dear readers, I wish you peace.