A while ago, one of my co-workers who was born in Europe asked me what the meaning of Memorial Day was and why was there both Memorial Day and Veteran's Day as they seem to be redundant holidays. I told him the short answer was that Memorial Day was for the troops that didn't make it and Veteran's Day is for the troops that did.
This Memorial Day morning I got to thinking about it a little more. I was up early to get my bike workout in. Afterwards I ran into road closures as they were setting up for the local parades when I was heading home. I'm sure that some people view this day as just a good day for a parade. Others may view this holiday as to have a barbecue to celebrate the "unofficial" start of summer. Some may simply celebrate it as a day that you don't need to go to work.
Thinking about the holiday this morning got my head around the fact that Memorial Day is about honor. It is about honoring the troops that "didn't make it" and it is about honoring the families and friends that they left behind. You may or may not agree with the reasons that they were put in harms way but today is about honoring those individuals and remembering what they did for our country and it's citizens.
I didn't serve in the military and I might have a different perspective of this holiday if I did. I am an American citizen though and figured I can start honoring these folks by saying thank you while I work on better ways to remember the men and women that this holiday attempts to recognize. It will never be enough but it is a start.
This Memorial Day morning I got to thinking about it a little more. I was up early to get my bike workout in. Afterwards I ran into road closures as they were setting up for the local parades when I was heading home. I'm sure that some people view this day as just a good day for a parade. Others may view this holiday as to have a barbecue to celebrate the "unofficial" start of summer. Some may simply celebrate it as a day that you don't need to go to work.
Thinking about the holiday this morning got my head around the fact that Memorial Day is about honor. It is about honoring the troops that "didn't make it" and it is about honoring the families and friends that they left behind. You may or may not agree with the reasons that they were put in harms way but today is about honoring those individuals and remembering what they did for our country and it's citizens.
I didn't serve in the military and I might have a different perspective of this holiday if I did. I am an American citizen though and figured I can start honoring these folks by saying thank you while I work on better ways to remember the men and women that this holiday attempts to recognize. It will never be enough but it is a start.
Thank you.
Image from http://www.vfw.org/
9 comments:
great post! Thanks.
Well said, Rock.
Very thoughtful.
Nice post.
Nice post. :-)
very awesome post, thanks. Very thoughtful.
Nicely said Rock Star! Sometimes we all need a little reminding of the true meaning of this special day:) Thanks for the meaningful post!
So true!
Very solid post my friend! Awesome message and timely reminder.
That's an awesome post! I know I don't take the time to thank them or really even think about them on Mem. Day as I should.
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