Memorial Day is a day set aside to remember, to honor those men and women who gave their lives so we — and this goes beyond America’s borders1 — can enjoy our freedoms.
It is not a day (only) for picnics and barbecues.
It is not a day (only) for parties where no one remembers those who gave their all.
It is not a day (only) for shopping.
It used to be a day to visit cemeteries to recognize the dead.
There are no sirens.
Cars do not stop and people do not pause in their purpose.
We do not honor those who gave their lives for us as those in younger countries do.
We do not remember; perhaps we do not WANT to remember.
ACCORDING TO A NEWS REPORT, Arlington National Cemetery on the Lee estate Masks, social distancing and other safety precautions have all become a part of the solemn rituals and pageantry at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well as the near daily funerals that still take place in the cemetery.
The new reality: Only 10 family or friends are allowed graveside. As few troops as possible perform funeral honors. Distance is kept, and masks are worn.2
Many cemeteries are simply closed due to the Chinese virus.
- That may not be politically correct, but it DOES acknowledge the undeniable truth that the virus originated in China and was exported from China. It also notes that China just happens to be offering Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical gear to the highest bidders.
A touch of history
Memorial Day was established as Decoration Day after the Civil War.3The video, one of several from the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) does not state if any Confederate soldiers are buried on the Lee estate. Until 1900, no Confederates were buried at Arlington. Now there is a section set aside for these soldiers.4
According to the DC by Foot5 website, Technically, the few hundred Confederate soldiers from the Civil War should not be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, per army burial regulations. It is a United States military cemetery and these soldiers, for the most part, did not serve in the United States military. Though not a stop on our guided walking tours of Arlington National Cemetery due to the distance, there is a section for Confederates buried at Arlington.
In the beginning of burials at Arlington, Civil War veterans from the union were buried amongst freed blacks and Confederate soldiers without much distinction between them. As years past and Arlington became more and more associated with the honor of our military, Union soldiers, both those who died during the war and veterans who died later, were given more care to the location and upkeep of their graves and headstones.
Confederate graves in government cemeteries in the North languished for want of care and upkeep. Southern support groups were not allowed to maintain the decrepit graves. On Decoration Day, the precursor to modern Memorial Day, it was forbidden to decorate Confederate graves.
Ask anyone what happened on 15 February 1898.6
Ask anyone what happened on 7 December 1941.7
Ask anyone what happened on 11 September 2001.8
It is unfortunate that we have such short memories that only — and this is a “maybe" — 9-11 is remembered.
The image below might jog some senior’s memory.
It used to be that those who paid the ultimate price were honored by the media.
I confess I am a comics fan; I regularly follow a handful of comics on the internet.
I expected to see many comics acknowledge Memorial Day. Only two did, and only one paid homage to the veterans.
As with Veterans Day, not only are graves in military (and other) cemeteries decorated with flags, but many older Americans remember buying, and wearing, paper poppies sold by the ladies of the American Legion Auxiliary.9
Admittedly, 2020 is an unusual year. Many Americans still are sequestered at home or, if they journey forth, they are (or should be) encumbered by face masks. Maintaining “social distancing” also intrudes on our social life.
Visiting cemeteries is pretty much out of the question unless the cemetery allows a “drive through” where cars are allowed in but passengers are prevented from exiting the vehicle.
We have seen nothing like this since the mis-named Spanish Flu of 1918. As with the current Chinese virus, the “Spanish” flu also originated in China and killed more people than were killed in combat — all sides — in World War I, “The Great War.”10
| Poems from the “Great War” | |
|---|---|
| In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below We are the Dead. Short days ago Take up our quarrel with the foe: Lt. Col. John McCrae | God and the soldier We adore In times of danger Not before The danger passed Rudyard Kipling |
Sources
1. Beyond U.S. borders to every country where U.S. troops have fought and died, for Americans’ freedoms and for others elsewhere.
2. Arlington National Cemetery: https://tinyurl.com/y8ehj8ty
3. Decoration Day: https://tinyurl.com/y849ry69
4. Confederates at Arlington: https://tinyurl.com/yburrrjj
5. DC By Foot: https://tinyurl.com/yd2cud4m
6. USS Maine sunk in Havana Harbor; death toll: 260 https://tinyurl.com/y6wgla92
7. Japanese attacks on U.S. bases in the Pacific
8. Twin Towers
9. Poppies Page: https://www.alaforveterans.org/Poppy/
10. "Spanish" flu: https://tinyurl.com/y3vsagcd
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.
Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.
Memorial Day 2020
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