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MEMORIAL DAY: SOLDIER HEROES
COULD BE RELUCTANT HEROES?
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(AP Photo/Charles P. Saus)
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What do most articles and editorials about Memorial Day 2007 say?
Something like, "Memorial Day represents one day of national awareness and reverence, honoring those Americans who died while defending our Nation and its values. While we should honor these heroes every day for the profound contribution they have made to securing our Nation's freedom, we should honor them especially on Memorial Day."
WHAT DOES THIS REALLY SAY? What is the "core" message? YOUNG AMERICANS DIED IN THE DEFENSE OF FREEDOM AND WE SHOULD HONOR THEM. Let's get real here...
Young Americans dying in Iraq hardly qualifies for securing our freedom at home. The vast majority of Americans think about the day's baseball scores more than the sacrifices of these young soldier heroes who paid the ultimate price. Still, it is not a bad thing to set aside a day to remember them. It is the least we can do. KT
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(AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)
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On this Memorial Day, Americans need to look closely into their hearts. For most Americans, Memorial Day is pretty much a holiday-some time off, a barbecue, the start of summer.
For Americans who care, Memorial Day should be a time of reflection. This year, we find ourselves at war, in a very divisive war, where there seems to be no way out. Consistently we see in the newspaper or on TV a report of some new revelation that we should have known better, but acted blindly. All that aside, what should cause us pause on this Memorial Day is honoring those who have paid the ultimate price- the brave men and women who have given their lives for our country.
Why Most Americans have not made any sacrifices in this war is not pertinent on the day we honor our deceased soldiers. Good books like AWOL have been written which seek to call us to answering the question of "why." In fact, it's subtitle has been one that I've used often: the unexcused absence of America's Upper classes from military service. The answer is pretty simple really--America's upper class or any class for that matter don't need to serve as we have a volunteer Army.
The contribution of the Volunteer Army during our present misadventure in Iraq: 3,443 who will never get to live out their lives. God Bless our decreased soldiers of the current as well as past conflicts. jhl.
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In Memory of our Deceased Heroes This Memorial Day...
Webzine Daily Devotion for Sunday, May 27, 2007
Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them.
~Francis A. Walker
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