I have mixed feelings about the patriotism being displayed about our men and women in uniform today.
The reason I say this as I feel the reason for it is simply due to our men and women who have been deployed in the Middle East for the past few years. All of the sudden everyone is a patriot with our servicemen and women and veterans looking better than they have since Korea. The reason I left out Viet Nam is because we treated these American Vets like crap. I see all kinds of posts in social networks talking of honoring our military men and women and our vets. A lot more then I saw or heard of only a few years ago.
The problem is; it will diminish considerably when all of our men and women serving in the Middle East have returned home and memory is diminished due to time. We’ve seen it before. Shortly after Pearl Harbor was bombed there were lines at the recruiting offices of men and women who all of the sudden became a patriot and wanted to fight for their country. We saw it again when the World Trade Center towers were destroyed on 9/11/2001 with Old Glory flying everywhere. But shortly after the end of WW II and a couple of years after 911 the patriotism faded.
A good example of this is the traditional observance of Memorial Day which has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day which was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 and was first observed on 30 May 1868 known as Decoration Day and was meant to honor Americans who died fighting in the Civil War and later changed to Americans who died fighting in any war.
Today’s Memorial Day is a day to honor all loved one who have passed thus the original meaning is somewhat lost or at the very least, shared with our veterans.
I invite you to copy this message and file it on your computer to be viewed again in five years or so. Then look at the posts on the social networks and look for the flag waving. I think you will witness what I am saying here.
This post is not meant to wrinkle a bunch of feathers but most likely will. For this, I apologize.
Nothing would please me more then to be proved wrong.
~Bill Lord~