Memorial Day

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JohnnyG

Honorary Lifetime CEO
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I heard this on the radio on the way home from work. If you are lucky enough to have a three day weekend, and as you are enjoying your freedom, stop for a brief moment and give thanks to those who died to keep you free.

Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed annually in the United States on the last Monday of May.[1] Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. (Southern ladies organizations and southern schoolchildren had decorated Confederate graves in Richmond and other cities during the Civil War, but each region had its own date. Most dates were in May.) By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.[2] As a marker it typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.

Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries.[3]

By the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as people visited the graves of their deceased relatives in church cemeteries, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family gatherings, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.[4]

Annual Decoration Days for particular cemeteries are held on a Sunday in late spring or early summer in some rural areas of the American South, notably in the mountains. In cases involving a family graveyard where remote ancestors as well as those who were deceased more recently are buried, this may take on the character of an extended family reunion to which some people travel hundreds of miles. People gather on the designated day and put flowers on graves and renew contacts with kinfolk and others. There often is a religious service and a "dinner on the ground," the traditional term for a potluck meal in which people used to spread the dishes out on sheets or tablecloths on the grass. It is believed that this practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the "memorial day" idea.
 
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And because of these brave men who have laid down their lives in the pursuit of freedom, it would be a disservice to them to hand this country over to the likes of Big Banks, Big Pharma, and the Oil Companies with all the politicians they have in their back pockets.

The ones who do the fighting are not the sons of the fortunate. They are the working-class, many of them coming from poorer backgrounds just looking to get ahead in life with some help in getting a college education after their service has ended.
 
Total respect for our military and the mostly very young soldiers who gave it all. If they fought in Vietnam and lived, they had the special bonus on arriving home of being spit on and disrespected.
Military recruiters are under a lot of pressure. I saw a show about two of them that would go to a ramshackle mall in Detroit and promise the moon to, mostly black, very poor kids.
War is good, very good, for Big Pharma. Half of the soldiers returning from Afghanistan are filing for disability. The way veterans are treated in this country is a disgrace. Let's get them on meds, no, let's stop these wars.

“The thing that bothers me is that companies claim to be patriotic. Then they turn around and make a profit on the war.”
 
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