Today is Memorial Day, the day we honor those who died earning and protecting our freedoms. From the volunteer settlers on the fields of the Revolutionary War in their new homeland to the doughboys of WWI and the Greatest Generation of WWII. Men -- and women -- fought and died so that we can have the opportunity to live in freedom and liberty in America.
You can thank a veteran today for their service, but their day comes in November. Today is for those who gave all their tomorrows so that we would have today and tomorrow.
The barbecues, the fireworks, the day at the lake; it's all window dressing so that enjoy the day without thinking too hard about the reality. The names on the Vietnam Memorial wall, the crosses at Normandy, the graves at Arlington.
That's why it is distressing to hear the well meaning, but fact-challenged minions of the presidential administration issuing platitudes about veterans and their sacrifices in the President's weekly radio message and other comments. It's a sign that a group of government school-educated young people realize that "we have to do something" about Memorial Day and head off in the wrong direction.
I'll be attending the Smyrna Memorial Day observance. It's a solemn observance, punctuated by a flyover, an Army band and military crispness. It is attended by folks who have seen the horrors of war, friends and family and those who simply want to say thanks.
Veterans Day, Nov. 11, is for all who wore the uniform of our country. Even I qualify, for my service of protecting the IHOP in East Point from Vietnam-era revolutionaries.
Memorial Day is to honor the memory of those who gave their lives for you, for me, and for their fellow soldiers. Bless them all.
