Besides being my birthday today, May 30 is the true Memorial Day. Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and serves as a day to remember those who have died defending our country.
The first Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30, 1868 in honor of Union and Confederate soldiers that died in the Civil War. New York was the first state to acknowledge this holiday and celebrate the day in honor of those who perished serving their country.
Memorial Day should be celebrated today, not on Monday. In fact, Veterans Day should be the same way. Too often, we look at these days as just another day off of work or another day off from school. They mean more than that and should be treated as such.
Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-HI, has supported legislation in the past that would eliminate the Monday holiday and allow for celebration whenever Memorial Day fell on the calendar. If it falls on a Monday, you celebrate it on a Monday. If it falls on a Friday, you should celebrate it on a Friday.
My problem with these holidays is that people are just treating them as “another Monday off” instead of Memorial Day. My usual Memorial Day routine involves visiting my grandfather’s grave. My grandfather did not die in combat, but he was a World War II veteran who served valiantly for his country. He didn’t parade around and “show off” the fact he was a veteran. It was something he did not wear on his sleeve. Based on what my mother and others have told me, my grandfather treated it like it was a job. When it was done, it was done. There was no sense in talking about it.
Memorial Day has always been more to me than just a day off. That is due mostly to my grandfather and his service. Four of my father’s best friends served in the Armed Forces. They are all veterans of the past. Now, due to Afghanistan and Iraq, we have veterans of the present who deserve the same honor and respect that our fathers and grandfathers received.
I would call on my next congressman, who could certainly be a man that I support — Jon Powers — to present such legislation to the House of Representatives and ask my senators to do the same. Memorial Day is more than barbecues, picnics, camping, parades and sales at Wal-Mart. It should be about honoring our fallen and remembering their sacrifice, instead of saying we didn’t have to sacrifice extra cash because we got a buy-one-get-one free deal at our area department store.
Let me put it in this context. Imagine if we used the same principle with Christmas and said that on the final Monday of every December, we would celebrate Christmas.
That wouldn’t make sense to me either. So why do it with holidays where we are supposed to honor the men and women who enable us to live in peace and celebrate such holidays?
May 30 should be the true time to celebrate Memorial Day. That is how it was intended and that is how it should be recognized.
Robert Harding is a Medina native and a student at the State University of New York at Fredonia. For comments, e-mail him at robert.harding22@gmail.com.
Columns
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Discussion
May 29, 2008
HARDING: Today is Memorial Day
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FARLEY: The Erie Canal gun telegraph
The following communication was first published by the Buffalo Historical Society on April 7, 1863.
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CONFER: Climate security and economic run
We live in an era of much unrest in which people fear for their security, be it socially (terror threats), economically (recession), or environmentally (global warming). Feeding off this, our elected officials have been quite successful in using fear-mongering to introduce endless amounts of legislation that do much more harm than good.
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HARDING: Today is Memorial Day
Besides being my birthday today, May 30 is the true Memorial Day. Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and serves as a day to remember those who have died defending our country.
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VALLEY: I’ll be on third-base side, section 22
I’ve become a creature of habit. I think it’s because of the sense of security that it offers. The repetition of doing the same thing on a routine basis provides less chance that my already vulnerable focus will be altered — or that my single-dimensioned lifestyle will be challenged by something that entails exertion.
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GUEST VIEW: Farm bill would aid the rich
The front page of the May 23 issue of this newspaper showed a photo of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer looking determined under the headline “Farm bill appears veto-proof.” Admittedly, Sen. Schumer is one of our most vocal legislators, if not exactly the brightest bulb in the box. Critical thinking is not his strong suit. But considering the company he keeps, this isn’t surprising.
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JENNINGS: Powers is the true ‘Real Deal’
It has been nearly a year since Jon Powers announced his intent to run for the congressional seat currently held by Tom Reynolds. I was at the event, held in Clarence, and I was immediately struck by the candidate’s candor about his upbringing and the time he spent in Iraq.
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HESS: Nature or nurture?
The other day as Henrietta was giving me the stare-down and I was going through the repertoire of things that she could possibly have wanted, I realized that she would likely not survive with another family. She has us (I like to say “us” but that really means “me”) so well trained and happy to comply with her every whim — even when I don’t know what it is — that she would be hard pressed to find a family who could read her mind as well as I do.
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VALLEY: The search for intelligent life (on Earth)
Headline news from various parts of the world ran a parallel course last week as both Great Britain and the Vatican released statements regarding alien life. British officials have decided to release previously classified documents on UFOs and the Vatican has issued a statement explaining that extra-terrestrials and religion can co-exist (on an unrelated matter: I wish they’d also explain why we always have to put the article “the” in front of “Vatican”).
- FARLEY: The ice house on the canal The history of the Erie Canal is filled with information that doesn’t seem to fit into a typical category. One such item was gleaned from the life of Paul Murphy, born in Hartland in 1892.
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Audubon of New York’s Winter 2008 Newsletter reports an 80 percent decline in field sparrows, an 87 percent decline in eastern meadowlarks and a 98 percent decline in grasshopper sparrows in New York state. There were no figures for the vesper sparrows that have long occupied a roadside niche on the back roads of Orleans County.
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