Memorial Day, 2008

In some ways, it was a typical Monday.
Yet around the country, many people in many cities were acknowledging the Memorial Day holiday by conducting special services and/or placing flowers on the graves of the men and women who have served in the military and given their lives in service.

Elsewhere, it was a day dotted with barbecues and blow-out sales at retail stores.

This Memorial Day found me feeling more political than usual. I was not amused to learn that there had been a White House ban on allowing photographs of any of the coffins returning home from the war.

"Recent discussions over whether or not to ban photographs of coffins of U.S. service members killed in Iraq have emphasized general principles rather than such political considerations. Supporters of the ban speak of the need for privacy for families of the dead, and opponents of the ban speak of the need for an informed public. To forbid Americans from witnessing the final homecoming of the dead from the Iraq War is a callous, low-minded act of audio-visual doublethink. The banishment from sight of our war dead blots out what should be a searing memory." Thomas Doherty is chair of the film studies program at Brandeis University

Back in 2000, a "Moment of Remembrance" was created with the idea that at 3:00 p.m. local time, people would stop what they were doing and allow for a moment of respectful silence in honor of those slain. I was unaware of that activity. Nor do I recall getting a memo being notified when Congress in 1971 established a three-day Memorial Day weekend in lieu of the traditional celebration on May 30th where it (was established) and where it belongs.

The idea of a three-day weekend is a good one for many reasons. It gives us more time to spend with our family for some R & R; I am sure it helps boost economic sales; and can allow for that extra day of reading or sleeping that seems to elude many of us.

Yet, I must step up onto my soapbox for a moment and go on record as stating that I don't think these annual three-day weekends should or need to be tacked on to a preexisting holiday--especially those holidays that call for a certain reverence. By having Memorial Day or President's Day or Martin Luther King Day stuck at the end of these holidays, the tendency is for the general populace to gloss over the original meaning of the day. Sure local T.V. stations always cover some public event of honor, but do we really, as individuals, take out time and contemplation in recognition of the holiday at hand? I think not.

When I am elected Queen of the Universe, I will create three-day weekends for the express purpose of having unscheduled, uncluttered and unshared time off to do with as we see fit.
And by the same token, any special holidays or days of honored recognition, will have stand alone significance instead of tailgate parties tacked on for effect.

My prayerful blessings go out to the men and women and service animals still serving this country in the military, and hope that they are home by next Memorial Day to be with their families either in reverent remembrance or a happy BBQ.

“We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make un-grudgingly for the cause of war. There is no task that is more important or closer to my heart.” Albert Einstein