Memorial Day is a special holiday here in the States. It basically began as a day set aside to remember those who died in the Civil War, and through progression, it was eventually made into a national holiday.
To me, Memorial Day is a bittersweet holiday. My brother is currently in the ARMY, and has been for five or six years now. He served almost a year in Iraq, and thankfully God saw him safely back home. However, thousands of other soldiers have not been so blessed. Americans, Iraqis, Britons, and many other countries have lost civilians to the War, and I want to acknowledge them here. The line defining enemy and comrade is only relative. Death, however, is absolute. So, this is my statement:
Soldiers from all over the world, may God bless and keep you. May your country respect you. May you always stand up for your beliefs. May you make it home to your family and friends.
As for the War, I will not advocate my opinion of that here. I am not in favor of a totalitarian regime, nor am I a proponent of human suffering, be it oppression or hunger. For some problems, war may be the answer, and I take this belief from Scriptures. For most problems, however, I think love and respect work better. If we love everybody and respect their culture, life would be much better. Through understanding would come peace.
Oh, and another thing typically associated with Memorial Day is the BBQ grill. For instance, today for lunch (and tonight for supper) we grilled out BBQ pork-chops and chicken tenders. Grilled food, especially on a charcoal grill, is simply amazing.
Finally, I want to acknowledge and say thank you to a blog reader. Sailor Matt, thanks for doing your service to the military. I'm not sure what all you did while in the Navy, but thanks for doing it.
Happy Memorial Day everyone.
Blogmasters Note: After re-reading this, it seems like I am a crazy, hippy liberal. This is a skewed (and flawed) view of me. Really, I'm mostly conservative, but with a large heart. I don't like to see people in pain or suffering. And if there's something I can do to help, then I want to do it.
2 comments:
Thanks for the shout-out to our fallen comrads, friend.
Hey, we grilled out on Memorial Day weekend, too. It's like a major threshold into the warm summer days, as the first of three major grilling holidays: Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day.
Me? I was an Aviation Electronics Technician in the Navy.
No problemo, Matt. Aviation Electronics Technician. No wonder you want to go into Electrical Engineering!
PS: Left-overs are still so, so good...
Post a Comment