Happy Memorial Day

But what does that really mean? Happiness? Bar-B-Ques? Picnics? The beginning of Summer? Families and friends? Memorial Day is celebrated in many ways but often the intent, the importance, and the pain and sorrow it has brought are often avoided or forgotten!

Memorial Day, begun in 1868, is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the military personnel who had died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

For many years I would post a photo on Facebook trying to commemorate the day and make a comment or two. But it took many years and perhaps a maturity that comes with age, to be able to say (hopefully without offending anyone) "I support our troops and those who have sacrificed their lives on our behalf ... but I DO NOT support war in any way for any reason."

Last night I got to thinking as I drifted off to sleep, and I get most of my ideas for these posts from that period of the day, about the number of deaths due to war, not only soldiers but also civilians. This thinking is paired, I am sure, with all the deaths we have been hearing about due to COVID 19 and more to come.

What is war? War is defined as an active conflict that has claimed more than 1,000 lives. Has the world ever been at peace? Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.

Why do we go to war? A question well worth asking but not going to be addressed here :-)

How many people have died in war? At least 108 million people were killed in wars in the twentieth century. Estimates for the total number killed in wars throughout all of human history range from 150 million to 1 billion. 

To use a comparison I previously used in a post about COVID 19, the common yellow school bus we are used to seeing holds approximately 100 seats. To transport the dead of twentieth-century wars, it would take a line of one million and eighty thousand yellow busses. 

To transport the dead from the high range of people killed throughout all of human history, there would be a highway of ten million yellow busses.

And that is not to count all those who died as civilians or not directly but as the result of war.

Again, I say, "I support our troops and those who have sacrificed their lives on our behalf ... but I DO NOT support war in any way for any reason."

Memorial Day Thoughts

MEMORIAL DAY THOUGHTS: My heart aches when ever I think of or see photographs of the country of Syria, the people, the children, the dead.I am not an expert on military ventures, but who wins in any country when there is little left of that country during and after a conflict? a war?

And this is not only going on in Syria, in some ways the battle is going on in the cities of the United States but in different form. My heart aches when ever I think of or see photographs of the victims in my own country due to gun violence, police brutality, and more.

I support those who are in the military and our police forces but I do not support many of their actions, reactions, and outcomes! 

What must we do, besides turning away, to treat each other (on all sides) with respect, compassion, and love? 

What must we do to get our government to make responsible, compassionate decisions here and abroad? 

MEMORIAL DAY:

SYRIA:

POLICE BRUTALITY:

GUN VIOLENCE:

DISCRIMINATION OF ALL KINDS:

WOMEN'S RIGHTS, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

WHAT DID I MISS:

Celebrating July 4th

There are a number of ways to celebrate July 4th.

Of course, for me, an important one is celebrating Gregory's birthday! He always used to say he was the reason we got a day off and fireworks. I always used to say, "Happy Birthday to Gregory and to our Nation!"

The piece below was shared with me via e-mail by my aunt. I have seen several other comments like this, not only for July 4th but recently also for Memorial Day (should be a day to remember our veterans who sacrificed their lives to protect us and not only for BBQs!)

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well-educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.  He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The

home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his  gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots.  It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free! We thank these early patriots, as well as those patriots now fighting to KEEP our freedom!

It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more MEANING to it than beer, fireworks, HOT DOGS,  and picnics......

The two sides of the coin seem to be "Make America Great Again" and the other side which already belives"America is Great!" 

One reflection is "Trump" vs "NotTrump."

While the U.S.A. is a pretty good place to live, it is certainly not perfect and has a long way to go to become perfect! 

"Trump seems to be trying (and succeeding) in taking the U.S.A. one way (I believe) towards worse - you can add the descriptors) and "NotTrump" (trying to bring the U.S.A. back to middle moving towards (I believe) better -  you can add the descriptors here as well.)

So if you are "Patriotic," how you think depends on who you support and with whom you agree. There currently seem to be no answers, only confusion. If I fly the American Flag at my door what does that mean? If a Trump supporter flies the flag at his door, what does that mean? Time will tell.