As Jose N. Harris said, “A Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including, their life. Regardless of personal or political views, there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact.” According to The History Channel,
“Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Memorial Day 2021 will occur on Monday, May 31. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades.“
Memorial Day is a time to remember fallen veterans, those from whom the government cashed that blank check.
Like Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day makes me sad and angry. It’s the day that many Americans make themselves feel good by paying lip service to trite concepts like duty, honor, country, patriotism, and service. Form over substance. A free lunch or a few dollars off your bill at Home Depot, Golden Corrale, or Chick-fil-A is appreciated, but most Americans don’t know a veteran, have never met a veteran, don’t know anything about the military, and couldn’t tell you what side we were on in WWII or who won. For most Americans, Memorial Day may be a day off or a chance to get a refrigerator on sale. That’s all.
I served 28+ years wearing the uniform of a country that no longer exists. I grew up on a steady diet of John Wayne movies and Hollywood stars who actively served their nation, whether on the battlefield or war bond rallies. Much of my concept patriotism was formed by patriotic (and perhaps propaganda) black-and-white movies that acknowledged our flaws but were unapologetically pro-America and our institutions. Maybe I am the one who lives in a fantasy land. Maybe the United States whose uniform I thought I wore never really existed. Throughout my career, due to circumstances largely beyond my control, I watched most of our nation’ wars on television. In a profound act of selfishness, I pulled strings to get an assignment in Iraq. I think the things I did there made a real difference and helped to reduce the number of young patriots who had to come home in a bag or box, but other than a few rocket attacks, I never saw any real action, so I have a hard time calling myself a “veteran.”
Perhaps that’s why it makes me so angry to watch politicians pose for photo ops on Memorial Day while working most of the year to vilify, destroy, give away, or demonize everything that many veteran’s stand for and represent. At least the things that THIS veteran believes. The political Left, the “progressives,” the liberals, the Goebels-admiring media, tech tyrants, the divisive lies of “unity” and “diversity,” the obscenity that is critical race theory, and the socialist fascists are destroying our country. It seems that most politicians haven’t read the Constitution and in many ways are domestic enemies of the Constitution. They choose to undermine or ignore the rule of law in favor of the rule of mobs. Due process in the courts has been replaced by the court of public opinion or The View. Many of our judges choose to legislate from the bench or selectively ignore our laws rather than use the legitimate processes in the Constitution to have an open debate on issues. Politicians and the media choose character assassination, vilification, and demonization to silence speech, actions, or choices that do not conform to the leftist socialist narrative, undermining the Bill of Rights, and destroying Christianity rather than engage in legitimate dialog. I had someone recently tell me that he didn’t know how the electoral college works but that it should be abolished because it always favors conservatives. Wow. Perhaps a competency exam should be used to determine who can vote.
In 2003, Time Magazine voted the American Soldier as Time’s person of the year. I have seen the poem It is the Soldierattributed to many authors, but AUSA ascribes it to Charles M. Province.
It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of press.It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
I couldn’t agree more. On Memorial Day all Americans should take time to remember the sacrifices and bravery of those whose coffins have been draped in the flag.
These days displaying the American flag in front of the house seems almost like displaying the Confederate flag. It is the flag of a country that no longer exists, and it is being characterized by the Left — the VAST majority of whom have benefitted from the greatness of American while simultaneously working to destroy that greatness – as a symbol of oppression, racism, and evil. The National Endowment for the Arts pays “artists” to place the flag on the ground for people to walk on or throw feces at it in the name of “art.” Your tax dollars paid for that. People in our own country burn our flag. Illegal aliens display the flag of their failed countries while disrespecting ours. Have you seen a single American flag in those caravans coming north to benefit illegally from our prosperity?
On Memorial Day we should honor those veterans who paid the last full measure of devotion.
Lincoln pointed out, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” There are forces within our own country that seek to divide us for their own power-grabbing ends. Our hallowed and once-respected institutions subverted by enemies within: our young are taught to hate America and our institutions; they are filled with lies that America is irredeemably racists; the Bill of Rights is under continuous attack by our own increasingly overreaching and tyrannical government; our corporations and schools promote objectively false narratives like critical race theory; our media and tech tyrants have become the ministry of propaganda instead of the source of news; and our elections have become untrustworthy. Most importantly, our Military has become a bastion of wokeness and a focus of witch hunts for non-existent white supremacy and extremism. Many of our flag officers wear a costume instead of a uniform. In its focus on wokeness instead of readiness, our military shows contempt and disrespect for our fallen comrades, despite hollow words and gestures.
For most Americans, Memorial Day is just a couple of words on the calendar – like indigenous people’s day – certainly not Columbus Day!!! For most Americans, Memorial Day is merely a day off (maybe) and a chance to save a few dollars on a sofa or dishwasher. The inmates in our political indoctrination camps (a.k.a. primary and secondary schools) are usually off on Veteran’s Day and hang out at the mall or play hyper violent video games rather than being in school to learn something about the sacrifices of our veterans. While Canadian television is showing programs that honor the sacrifices of their military, ours is showing the normal, unending stream of vitriol and hate. Everyone hates Americans, especially Americans. Memorial Day should be a day to share oral histories, meet veterans, and honor our fallen soldiers as well as the institutions they died to defend. This is our opportunity to pass on our love of our country to our young. On Memorial Day, I feel saddened that the Disunited States of America is unraveling from within, and I feel angry at the hypocrisy of our political elitists who make themselves feel good with hollow gestures of patriotism one day of the year while mocking, through their words and deeds, quaint concepts like duty, honor, country, service, the Constitution, rule of law, and patriotism throughout the rest of the year.
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